
Class ?rV : --0 

Book . , T y 



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CCPHRIGHT DEPOSm 



RELIGION 
AND BUSINESS 



The Undreamed-of Possibilities Which 

Man May Achieve Through 

Mastery of Self. 



BY 

Theodore G. Northrup. 

n 






dedicated to 
The Church of Silent Demand 






^0 



Published November, 1917, 



Copyright, 1917, 
By THEODORE G. NORTHRUP, 

149 Broadway, N. Y. City. 



All Rights Reserved. 



DEC 10 1917 

©CI.A479543 



INTRODUCTION. 



WHAT the earnest student of metaphysics 
wants, in a text-book, is a clear, intelli- 
gible statement of fundamental facts in 
Mental Law, — a statement which is sound, in 
accordance with science, demonstrable and not 
confused by appearing to be dependent upon 
outside "authority" (biblical or otherwise) ; a 
statement consecutively arranged, that is logical, 
that appeals to common sense, that will work 
when put to the "acid test" of experience. 

Such a statement Mr. Northrup has given us 
in this book — "Religion and Business." 

It is intended especially for the "man on the 
street," the man or woman who really wants to 
know the true path of development and is ready 
to set aside the intricacies of mere intellectual 
gymnastics. 

The statement is clear and simple and it 
remains only for the student to follow carefully 
the teaching to get the results promised. 

The author's experience, however, of many 
years, has shown him the wisdom of emphasiz- 

3 



4 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

ing the fact that each one must u work out his 
own salvation/' — must actually do the work for 
themselves and not expect the reading of the 
book only to bring far-reaching results. It is 
only by this individual effort and exercise that 
we can develop the strength and experience the 
joy of true growth. 

The lessons contained in this book will be 
especially welcome right now, at this particular 
time, and in suggesting the thought that each 
one who finds them helpful, can hardly "do his 
bit" more efficiently than extending to his 
"neighbor" the opportunity of obtaining similar 
benefits, I feel that an important service is being 
performed. It is plainly evident from the 
author's experience on the lecture platform, that 
there are untold thousands ready to welcome 
these teachings, as does the thirsty traveller the 
spring of "living water." 

Walter Goodyear. 



FOREWORD. 



IT is the purpose of this book to carry those 
who read and study its pages from the 
thought of limitation into the consciousness 
of mastery, — believing there can be a religious 
ideal which can be made so clear, intelligible 
and rational that it will command the brains of 
men as well as attract their hearts. 

As I look around upon this world of effect I 
cannot help seeing that the large majority of 
people are living in the thought of limitation 
and are experiencing as a result of this thought 
sickness, trouble and poverty, w 7 hen with a 
knowledge of God and their own Powers they 
can reach out into the unseen world and bring 
into manifestation Peace, Joy and Abundance 
of all good. I send this book forth into the 
world of effect on its mission of teaching that 
abundance of everything man can possibly want 
is at his command when he understands the law 
of his being. 

Theodore G. Northrup. 



CONTENTS. 



The Creator or Cause .... 9 

The Created or Effect .... 23 

All is Good — There is No Evil . . 34 

The Silence 45 

Healing Self and Others . . .58 

Application in Business .... 72 

Controlling Environment ... 93 

Mastery of Self 110 



CHAPTER I.— CREATION. 



THIS is a time in the world's experience 
when men want to know more about God ; 
more about themselves and more about 
their responsibilities. We are meeting crises, in 
the presence of which man begins to ask ques- 
tions, — crises which the world has never met 
before. 

A popular writer has recently asked the fol- 
lowing question : — u Why does the Almighty, 
the all merciful God, who created the universe 
and even the stars, allow His christian children 
to perpetrate this horrible slaughter in Europe? 
Shall we in this enlightened age, the Twentieth 
Century, worship only and love a God like this?" 
This writer does not understand that man can 
do anything, — may be permitted to do anything 
he wants to do, only he must pay the price for 
so doing. War is the effect and man the cause. 
This he also fails to realize. The seed was 
sown long ago and forgotten. But law never 
forgets, — hence the present reaping. For the 
stewardship of men and nations alike, this great 

9 



IO RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

universal law sooner or later demands an ac- 
counting. What did it cost America to permit 
a black man to be sold upon the auction block? 
The universal law made its demand and the 
Nation made the adjustment. Whenever the 
adjustment follows the demand, the result is sat- 
isfactory, for out of it always comes Rightness. 
Man has made great progress on all mechan- 
ical lines. Nearly everything is done by machin- 
ery. He has followed the laws of nature into 
the unseen above and below, but he is just 
beginning to learn something about himself and 
the laws to which he is related. I say he is just 
beginning. He is slowly learning that every- 
thing and every life is under law. When he 
comes to understand the laws governing his life 
he knows more about God and therefore more 
about man's possibilities. The man of affairs is 
beginning to learn that he is handicapped through 
ignorance of those higher laws governing busi- 
ness. The man or woman who is employed, is 
not fully equipped and cannot command the 
salary which they should command when failing 
to understand those laws which govern their 
being. The sales man or woman can sell more 
goods, can achieve more highly, when he or she 
understands and applies the law which is at their 
command. 



CREATION I I 

At the front of every revolution, civil, moral 
or spiritual, is a man, radical in thought, bold in 
conception and quick in execution. There was 
never a time when such ability was recognized 
as it is today. The question is, — "What can 
you do?" Unless a man can stand forth as a 
leader, in advance of the crowd, he is not 
wanted. Such a man can name his own price 
and the world will pay it. His pulses thrill with 
the spirit of energy and enterprise. To keep 
pace with such a leader all the forces of life 
and action must be awakened. If one would 
hold a respectable place in the procession he 
must be alert, recognize the universal law of his 
being and show the world where act and achieve- 
ment meet. 

The belief in an arbitrary God, — away off 
somewhere, no one knows where, — belongs to 
the period of the ox-cart, the pod-auger and the 
tallow-dip. It is not up to date. Man wants 
to know, — and he can know. Man has been 
able to systematize all the phenomena of ex- 
terior nature, why not that of his interior life 
and its relation to the First Great Cause? The 
phenomena of the human spirit is within the 
grasp of the intellect. There is something 
within each one of us pushing us on towards 
something better, something more satisfying 



12 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

than that which we enjoy today. We want to 
grow and it is some power within which, in its 
growth, is pushing us on to something better. 
In growing we must out-grow. We are to for- 
get the things behind and reach forward to those 
which are before. 

If everything is governed by law, everyone 
should be interested to know what those laws 
are and how to apply them in every-day life. If 
there is a law which governs business, as exact 
as the law governing the tides; if there is a law 
that I can apply that will sweeten and bring 
harmony into my home; if there is a law which 
I can apply to my body, bring health and power, 
I want to know it. I want to know how to 
make that application. 

During these eight lessons we will consider 
the teachings of the Church of Silent Demand. 
The subjects and their order will be as 
follows : — 

1st — "First Cause or The Creator." 
2nd— "The Effect or the Created." 
3rd — "All is Good. There is no Evil." — 
When we come into that consciousness and see 
only good in everything, then, only good can 
come into the world. This is an important 
lesson because we have been taught just the 
opposite. 



CREATION 13 

4th — "The Silence and Concentration — The 
Power of the Silence." 

5th— "How to Heal Self and Others." 
6th — "How to Apply these Principles in 
Business." 

7th — "How to Control Environment." 
8th— "Mastery of Self." That is the key- 
note — Mastery of Self. 

The First Lesson is the foundation on which 
all is built. We have been taught that God is 
omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient. What 
does it mean to you? Have you understood 
what it means ? How can you believe it possible 
for a God, away off somewhere, "Dwelling in 
light inaccessible and full of glory," to be omni- 
present? It never meant anything to me, and 
yet I belonged to an orthodox church, because 
there was something in me that urged me to do 
the best I could, to live the best life possible 
to me, but I could not understand how God 
could be omnipresent. I shall try in this First 
Lesson to so explain it that all will understand 
the omnipresence of God. 

We must have some understanding of this 
Great Cause or Power which stands behind and 
back of every manifestation that we see, or touch 
or feel. We have been told that the finite could 



14 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

not know the infinite. But we must know. 
There is an imvard impulse, a gradual forward 
thrust which moves us; there are perceptions 
which, through the world of sense and self, 
discover a spiritual identity with this higher 
power. Our knowledge is what shapes our 
world, and to not know, cannot satisfy the man 
of today. 

That which we vision, that we are. There 
comes a time in the life of everyone, when the 
storm breaks and the winds are out, when he 
must have something on which he can stand 
and say triumphantly "None of these things 
move me." When this is fully realized man is 
master of the situation. But so long as man 
believes in tw T o powers, — so long as he clings 
to duality, he will be buffeted by discordant and 
unsatisfactory conditions. The world demands 
freedom. Freedom comes only through a 
knowledge of the truth, and truth alone can set 
man free. So, in studying this truth one must 
know. Belief is helpful and faith is necessary 
but one cannot be satisfied until he feels that 
he knows. 

When one has reached the consciousness that 
there is a God, he knows that there is a Power 
with which he can come in touch, at will. I say, 
that when he reaches the consciousness that he 



CREATION 1 5 

knows, then, peace comes to that one; harmony 
dominates his life and Power comes into his 
doing. It makes no difference what teachings 
one has accepted in the past; if it will not stand 
the test of today it must be cast aside and up-to- 
date teaching put in its place. From all the 
differing lines of thought we are converging into 
the truth, and although some of the new teach- 
ing is directly opposite to that we have received 
in the past, it is a truth because it can be per- 
fectly demonstrated. 

This is a world of change and the law of 
change will push us forward to something better. 
Each one must learn to stand upon his own feet. 
When the storm comes he must accept it as an 
opportunity to prove his faith. When you have 
the problem to solve, and you know how to 
demonstrate ; when you know the principles and 
how to apply them to your life, then it is the 
opportunity for you to say, — U I am master of 
this problem; I know how to deal with it," and 
the demonstration reveals the Truth more fully, 
and then you know that you know. 

In elucidating this truth I wish to present it 
in a plain, simple, practical, business way that 
will appeal to your reason. I will not attempt 
to prove anything by the Bible as that would 
be my interpretation, and that would be no bet- 



1 6 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

ter than yours. I will appeal to you on common 
ground — just where you stand, and start from 
what you know. 

Each person who reads this page is living in 
a state of consciousness different from the other. 
Tomorrow each may be living in a state of 
consciousness different from today. Therefore 
we assume your present state whatever that 
may be. 

There are a few things that we know — each 
one of us knows — it is not guess work, — it is 
not belief. We know. One is, we know that 
we are here. That we do exist. We also know 
that others exist all about us. We know further, 
that we did not create ourselves. Therefore we 
must be an effect. I would put this in so em- 
phatic a manner that you will carry along in 
your mind the fact that You did not create your- 
self, — you are an effect. 

Our reason tells us that there is a power out- 
side of and beyond ourselves, — A Cause. This 
Cause we can know. Therefore, as we trace 
back from effect to cause we will, and we must 
find a power or cause, which is not dependent 
upon anything outside of itself. If it depended 
upon anything outside, or above, or beyond itself 
it could not be a First Cause and we will be 
driven still further back until we reach a Cause 



CREATION 1 7 

which is dependent only upon itself, — that will 
be the First Cause. 

Again :— We know that man has a degree of 
intelligence. As we have found that he is an 
effect, and as the effect cannot be greater than 
the cause, we know that the First Cause must 
be intelligent. And as self-consciousness is an 
attribute of the First Cause, so it repeats itself 
in the consciousness of the effect. 

Again : — We know that we manifest life. We 
can see life expressed everywhere, in the mineral, 
in the vegetable, in the animal, in man ; and, as 
all is an effect, we can know with certainty that 
First Cause is life. Man's life finds creation 
responsive to all its faculties. His life became 
the measure of all things. Man is not only 
the interpreter but is the interpretation of all 
Life. 

Again: — We know that love is part of our 
being. We must love. Love being a part of 
our life it must find its object. We being an 
effect know with certainty that First Cause 
must be love. It is the heart that sees most 
clearly. 

Again: — We know that man has power to 
think. We see. the expression of thought all 
about us. As the effect cannot be greater than 
the cause, First Cause must be a thinker. The 



1 8 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

effect can think out after the Cause. Its 
thoughts. 

Again: — We know that man can determine 
his actions through a power we call will. By 
this we know that First Cause can and does 
determine Its actions, and everything that is 
real must be an expression of Its thought and 
will in action. This is what we call Law — 
that is Higher Law. 

Again : — We have also found that First Cause 
is self-conscious ; knows itself and determines its 
actions. It is all intelligence, all power, all life 
and is always active. This is not all that we 
know. We know that all the power forces, 
attributes or qualities are mental and in the un- 
seen. We cannot see power, we see only the 
expression of power. We cannot see life, we 
can only see the manifestation of life. We can- 
not see love, we can see only its expression. 
Therefore First Cause, or Creator, is Mind or 
Spirit. We have now reached a point where we 
can combine these powers, forces, qualities and 
attributes under the name of First Cause, In- 
finite Spirit, Absolute, or God. 

Again: — First Cause, Infinite Spirit or God is 
mind or Spirit and is self-dependent. Now note 
this. Nothing could be imparted to the effect, 
or creature, by the Creator but its own sub- 



CREATION 1 9 

stance. Nothing ever proceeds from the creative 
Spirit but what was in it. It imparted Itself in 
the Creation, for even God could not create 
something from nothing. Therefore all creation 
is from, and is the same substance — mind or 
spirit, but of different degrees of vibration. Ice, 
water and steam are the same substance, differ- 
ing in degrees of temperature. The same with 
creation. In the created are different combina- 
tions and different qualities of the one substance. 
We shall see later on. 

Now, we have been reasoning from what we 
know of nature and man back to the First Cause. 
We will reverse our method and reason from 
First Cause to man. 

First Cause or God must be powerful because 
we see power expressed in everything around us ; 
in the rocks, the flowers, the trees, the animal 
and in man. Power everywhere. And as the 
effect, or the created cannot be greater than the 
cause, First Cause must be power. 

Again: — We see life manifest everywhere. 
Everything in the seen must express life or it 
will disappear from our view. First Cause 
must therefore be life. 

Again : — We see love expressed in the flower, 
the animal, in man. Therefore we can say that 
we know that First Cause is love. 



20 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

Again: — We see intelligence expressed in 
everything. Therefore we conclude that First 
Cause must be Intelligence. 

In reasoning therefore from what we know, 
— man to First Cause, or from First Cause to 
man, — we arrive at but one conclusion, and that 
is: First Cause, or God is All Power, All Life, 
All Love, All Intelligence, All Good, and is the 
Substance of everything in the seen and the un- 
seen. All is Mind or Spirit. u God we may 
know through the thought He has expressed in 
the things which He has made." That knowl- 
edge is valid and may be verified by the practical 
tests of life. When we correctly understand 
man and nature we may look through either 
directly into the mind of God. 

The object of this lesson is to bring the reader 
into the consciousness that there is but one Power 
in the whole world. No matter where we see 
the Power it is God-Power. Though it be in 
Niagara or in the heating of water it is the same. 
It matters not where the Power is seen or felt, 
it is God in manifestation and God-Power. 

There can be but one Power in the whole 
universe, because there is but one Intelligence. 
Wherever we see intelligence it is God-Intelli- 
gence. Wherever w r e see life it is God express- 
ing Life. God is the Substance of everything 



CREATION 2 1 

and everything is obedient to Law. In the 
realm of the Spirit, chance and caprice are 
eliminated. The tides of ambition, the gusts of 
passion, the longings of desire, the awakening 
of love are reduced to the dominion of law. 
Things are not erratic and lawless because they 
are spiritual and etherial. The laws of the 
Spirit are as constant as those which govern the 
tides and breathe through the world of nature. 
What beside God in this entire and infinite sim- 
plicity we mean when nature is pronounced ? All 
is alive from smallest atom to mightiest star; 
and all is jubilantly expressing the Mind, or 
Spirit or Infinite God. 

As your eye rests upon these pages, let your 
mind come into the consciousness that there is 
but one substance in the whole world. This 
will prepare the mind to recognize the omni- 
presence of God in everything you see and feel. 
Omnipresence not only imparted Itself in crea- 
tion but consciously and actively dwells therein. 
The power by which you move, the intelligence 
with which you read this page, the life by which 
you serve your kind, the love in which you pay 
your tribute to your God are all imparted by 
His Spirit, and have their source in His Infinite 
mind, for He is all there is in the seen and the 
unseen. 



2 2 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

Holding fast to this consciousness you will 
be able to consider and embrace the thoughts 
of the next lesson. Until you come into this 
consciousness it will not be possible for you to 
demonstrate and bring to pass those things 
which you most desire. Remember as you turn 
the next and following pages that there is but 
one substance in the whole world and that is 
God. There is but one Life, one Power, one 
Intelligence in the whole Universe and that is 
God. 



CHAPTER II. 
THE EFFECT OR THE CREATED. 



OUR first lesson was occupied in consider- 
ing the Primal Cause, — The Cause of 
everything in the seen and the unseen. 
We now enter upon the consideration of the 
EFFECT, or what the Cause has produced. 
All that reaches us through the senses is the 
w T ork of the Primal Cause. 

In our first lesson also we found that God, 
First Cause, Infinite Spirit, to be Intelligence, 
Mind or Spirit, and that from this substance 
all created things were developed. I repeat, 
this Substance is Intelligence, Power, Love and 
Life. 

We learned that God, or First Cause, has 
imparted Himself in and to all created things. 
Things were first, thoughts, God's thoughts. 
That "the things that were made were not 
made of things which do appear, " is an in- 
spired statement. Enthroned amidst the silent 
elements of material existence is a spiritual 
power from which their vitality is derived. To 

23 



24 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

everything that has Being there is an outward 
form and an inward life. The substances of 
the mineral kingdom are pervaded by invisible 
agents which develop the forces necessary to 
their existence. The being and beauty of the 
vegetable creation are dependent upon an in- 
visible, vitalizing law. 

The meanest form in nature; the feeblest 
thing that lives, enshrines and reveals its quick- 
ening energy, received from the Infinite Intelli- 
gence. From the great heart of Primal Cause 
the vital currents flow through all the arteries 
of Being. All life is the continuous activity 
of Mind on the objects of its creation. Life 
is the revelation of a Spiritual Presence; — 
God's Presence in the universe to which He 
has imparted His Life and Substance. Should 
we ascend to the sublime heights where thought 
and aspiration are wearied and can go no 
farther; or should we descend to that mysteri- 
ous abyss w T here the shadows of nonentity veil 
the germs of existence ; — in every place and in 
all natures we find God revealed. 

To the old arbitrary formalism we oppose 
this Divine Philosophy which refers the origin, 
the continuance and the end of all things to 
the Life, Love and Power of God, the Spirit 
and First Cause. We teach that the Divine 



THE EFFECT OR THE CREATED 25 

Spirit pervades and governs by established laws 
the material universe and all spiritual existence ; 
— that all truth is natural, and adapted to those 
reactional faculties which God, as their Creator, 
has enshrined in the human soul; — that God 
has built His temple' there, and that all men 
as they become God-like in spirit and in life 
are rendered increasingly susceptible to Divine 
instruction and Divine impressions, from the 
First Cause from which they sprung. 

Thus, we see there is but one Intelligence. 
There is but one Power, — not as a famous 
evangelist would tell us there are tw T o pow T ers; 
for, in that case God would not be Omnipotent. 
There is just ONE POWER, GOD. In a 
subsequent chapter I will explain how we make 
a mistake by acting mentally as though there 
were two. But wherever Power is found, 
whether it be in heating water, swinging stars 
in their orbits, in burning gasoline, or in the 
activities of man, it is the same in source and 
character; — it is all God. 

All creation is from the same substance; — 
SUBSTANCE — that which stands-under, up- 
holds, sus-tains : — displayed in different quali- 
ties and in differing degrees. The figures from 
to 9 may be so arranged as to represent any 
amount, and the figures of the alphabet, only 



26 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

26 in number, compose all the volumes in the 
English tongue. 

This is a SCIENCE— THE SCIENCE OF 
ALL SCIENCES. All the sciences of the 
world are based upon this ONE SCIENCE. 

Ice manifests the lea*st power, water, more 
power, but gas manifests so much power that 
it moves everything before it. For instance, in 
an over-heated boiler the power is so great that 
you cannot contain it. It will find release. So 
it is with Creation. The mineral kingdom has 
but little intelligence, the vegetable kingdom 
has more intelligence and in it we begin to per- 
ceive the element of love. If you tend a plant 
with loving care it will grow and flourish for 
you. The animal kingdom manifests more in- 
telligence, more love and more power to con- 
trol its action, which the flower has not. 

With man comes the crowning work of the 
Creator. He becomes a Co-Worker. Added 
Life and Power, but not only this, he is fully 
equipped to draw from the Universal Supply 
for all his needs. "Son, all that I have is 
thine. " One can sit in his office, and in a 
moment get in touch with this great Universal 
Supply. Inasmuch as man has more intelli- 
gence, more love, more life, more power, more 
wisdom he can so approach the abundant supply 



THE EFFECT OR THE CREATED 27 

as to immediately secure any benefit which he 
may properly desire. 

Man has power to impart in his own build- 
ing, the same as the First Cause imparts Itself 
in Creation. He communicates himself to 
everything he does. He knows and does in a 
finite way what the Creator does in an In- 
finite manner. The power of man is seen in the 
machinery of today. For instance, the adding 
machine. A bit of mechanism almost human 
in its work; — or the machine for picking cot- 
ton; removing the white bolls with the intelli- 
gence of men. The thought man has used to 
change the face of nature, bridge rivers, tunnel 
mountains, bind continents with a net-work of 
iron rails and subdue the earth, was first dis- 
covered in the things which God has made and 
transcribed into the human mind. These are, 
however, the Effect and man the cause. He 
directs all this intelligence and exercises this 
marvellous power in building a wonderful 
world. 

Man imparts himself in everything he does. 
His handwriting is his own. If you wish to 
open a bank account, the first thing requested 
is your signature. That signature will open 
and continue that account, and upon it all trans- 
actions will depend, 



2 8 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

As man imparts himself to everything he 
touches he produces an effect, a creation, and 
by the character of the effect we determine 
whether it is God-created or man-made. Man 
becomes the important factor in Creation, and 
God and Man are all we have to deal with in 
solving the problems of life. For you and me, 
there is no dependence upon each other; — our 
sole dependence is upon this Great Power, or 
God. First Cause or God, imparts Himself in 
Creation, and man must use the material in 
his building which God has imparted in His 
Creation. Thus the Universal mind repeats it- 
self on a limited scale in the mind of man. If 
you attempt to build from anything outside of 
the God-Power, your building will fall and 
perish. You must build from : — INTELLI- 
GENCE,— LOVE— LIFE,— and POWER. 
You cannot admit hate. No structure can sur- 
vive on negative conditions. Building on these 
your house will fall. From the material im- 
parted to us, we are to build. 

We find, therefore, that we are in a SPIRIT 
world. We deal only with Mind or Spirit. 
This explains how one can sit down in the 
silence and speak the word which will bring 
health to the body of a person miles away. 
As we have found that there is but one sub- 



THE EFFECT OR THE CREATED 29 

stance from which the world was created, and 
that substance is Mind or Spirit, — this substance 
is all with which we have to deal. Thought 
as we have seen is as real a substance as any- 
thing we can see, feel or touch, because it 
reaches out into the unseen and brings into the 
seen and known what that thought represents. 
Besides, also, thought under-girds all material 
existence. Man's mind or spirit is the instru- 
ment by which the unseen is brought into the 
seen or manifested upon this plan of action. It 
is the highway of the Divine Mind to the world. 
A certain quality of thought will bring into 
manifestation the same thing every time. No 
matter who sends out this quality of thought, 
you can know with certainty what that thought 
will bring into manifestation. If you are carry- 
ing negative thought you may know absolutely 
you will have unsatisfactory conditions. Nor 
does it matter who sends it forth, for every 
thought produces its kind. 

An inharmonious mind cannot demonstrate 
SUCCESS. An inharmonious mind will induce 
unsatisfactory conditions. Man, being the 
highest, most perfect, is master of the lower. 
He is, therefore, responsible for the direction 
of this power. Ignorance does not excuse us. 
There is but ONE POWER, and we are using 



30 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

it every moment of our lives. That POWER 
is doing something in the world directed by our 
thought. It is either tearing down our business 
or building it up. It is either tearing down our 
home or filling it with sweetness and light. In 
all this, the responsibility rests upon you and 
me, and from it there is no escape. 

Upon every thought mankind sends forth is 
stamped its quality. That quality will be ac- 
cording to the person's understanding of the 
truth. Ignorance is no excuse. Its quality is 
stamped upon every thought and upon every 
word you speak. You are responisble for w T hat 
that thought or word brings into the world and 
escape from that responsibility is impossible. 

We can now see God everywhere and in 
everything. He is not afar off in some un- 
imagined somewhere as we have been taught in 
the past. We have been taught the omnipres- 
ence of God but we failed to understand how 
and in what way. But now we can see God 
everywhere, — in the flowers, in the trees, in the 
grass, in the stars, in the mountains and in men, 
women and children. Everywhere is God, 
Coming into this consciousness we enter a new 
world with God everywhere. 

God is the Substance of everything. We 
cannot separate ourselves from that Substance 



THE EFFECT OR THE CREATED 3 1 

only in belief and we can change that belief 
at will. 

Did you ever consider that the real cannot 
be seen, — we see only its effect. We cannot see 
the Cause. Intelligence cannot be seen, — only 
its manifestation is tangible. Power you cannot 
see, — only its expression. God you cannot see, 
— only His manifest works. You cannot see 
your friend, only the instrument through which 
he communicates with his kind. You cannot 
see the CAUSE, the LIFE, the POWER held 
in a kernel of corn which produces the full- 
grown ear, but you can see the effect, — that is, 
power and life in manifestation. You cannot 
see the life in the acorn from which springs the 
giant oak, neither can you see the power, in- 
telligence, love and life folded in man which 
it was intended he should unfold through a 
conscious understanding who he is, and the 
practical knowledge of his Creator. Man's 
business is to unfold power, love and life, and 
impart these to all his work. You then have 
the manifestation of quality, character and life 
which he possesses. 

That "an evil tree cannot bring forth good 
fruit" is as true today as ever, neither can a 
negative thought bring forth good results in 
life or action. That which we can see and feel 



32 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

is only, and always the effect. The Cause is 
always in the unseen. If we censure this or 
that one for dissatisfactions which come into 
our lives, let us know, that lying back in the 
unseen is the cause in some thought which we 
have sent out. We meet it again in the world 
of effect. 

Back of and behind all effects which we see 
lies the Cause, either in God or in man. God 
is the Creator and man is the Builder, a Co- 
worker with the Almighty. Having power to 
draw from the Universal Supply man can 
build his world a heaven here and now if he 
will meet the conditions. We are not obliged 
to pass through these unpleasant experiences we 
are meeting. They are caused by mistakes we 
have made in directing the power at our com- 
mand. The quality of thought builds the con- 
dition. As man is not limited in thought, in 
quantity nor in quality, he can reach the cause 
of all things in the silence, but even there he 
must meet the necessary conditions, for every- 
thing is according to law. The Law of Love, 
the Law of Harmony, the Law of Finance, the 
Law of Compensation and the Law of Right- 
ness. Deviating a hair's breadth from one of 
these laws will result in unsatisfactory con- 
ditions. 



THE EFFECT OR THE CREATED 33 

In later chapters these laws will be consid- 
ered. The purpose of this chapter, I hope you 
have fully understood, is to bring you into the 
consciousness of the First Cause, Infinite Spirit, 
or God everywhere and in everything. Wher- 
ever you see life it is God in manifestation. 
Wherever you see Power it is God-Power. 
Wherever you see intelligence it is God thinking 
in man or animal. Wherever you see love, it 
is God in action. 

Thus at the end of the second chapter we 
leave you with this consciousness, that All is 
Good and All is Mind or Spirit and All is GOD. 



CHAPTER III. 
ALL IS GOOD— THERE IS NO EVIL. 



ALL is Good, there is no Evil. To many, 
in the midst of present conditions, this 
seems impossible. Let us see if the mat- 
ter cannot be presented in such a manner that 
we shall come to know that ALL IS GOOD, 
THERE IS NO EVIL? 

In our previous study we have found but One 
Power and One Substance in the whole world. 
We found that Power and Substance to be First 
Cause, Infinite Spirit, or God. GOD IM- 
PARTED HIMSELF IN CREATION. 
We also found that First Cause was Mind or 
Spirit and that All was GOOD. We also found 
the result of action on the part of God in Crea- 
tion was an Effect. The crowning effect we 
found to be man. We now take into account 
and deal with man. He is here, and is the all 
important factor in God's creative work. He 
is not only a Creation but is a Co-Worker with 
the Creator. Everything upon this scene of 
action is from God, the Cause, or from man, 

34 



ALL IS GOOD, THERE IS NO EVIL 35 

the Builder. It is possible for man to reach 
out into the unseen world and bring into the seen 
and tangible, that for which these words stand. 

With man appears what we call evil, sickness, 
poverty and trouble of all kinds. Now, remove 
every man, woman and child from New York 
City today, — all would be peace and harmony, 
all would be good, — but when you bring man 
back you bring sickness and trouble of every 
kind, pain and poverty's low cry. 

What, then, is evil, and where does it come 
from? We know that God's Creation is good 
and that God created all there is. Therefore 
what we call evil is man's building. 

The origin of Evil? The subject has been a 
perplexing one to many thoughtful minds. 
God is the Author of all things, but all that 
God made was pronounced Good. How, then, 
came evil? I do not see how there can be any 
authorship to evil. No one created it. No one 
ever brought evil, as evil, into being. Evil, — 
sin, — is not a substance. It can neither be 
made or begotten. It is not an attribute, nor is 
it a power or a faculty; therefore it is no thing, 
— nothing. Inasmuch as it is not a constituent 
element of either matter or mind, it cannot be 
an entity in any sense of the word. It can there- 
fore be only an act, or a condition. 



36 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

Now let us see ! Suppose that, on some dark 
night a man stops you and forcibly takes your 
purse. This you would call an evil. Why does 
he do this? Someone sells to your husband or 
son that which destroys his manhood. That is 
what we call evil. Your employer fails to pay 
as much for your services as he should, and you 
ask, "Is this right ?" "Is this good?" "Do I 
not see poverty, crime and trouble everywhere?" 
"Do you call this good? "Do not my friends 
turn against me and speak that which is untrue 
about me?" "Can this be good? All this and 
more comes from the same cause. They all 
think, that in some way what they do will con- 
tribute to their happiness. Their motive is 
good. They desire happiness, but their method 
of doing is what we question. It is right that 
this man who robs you should have money, but 
not your money. It is right also that he should 
be self-respecting. It is right that your em- 
ployer should have money and profit in handling 
his business. You see the motive is right but 
the method is wrong. What we call evil is a 
mistaken way of doing things. What is a mis- 
take? It is calling 4x4=20, and so long as 
you persist in calling 4x4=20 it will cost you 
something. Mistakes are expensive. 



ALL IS GOOD, THERE IS NO EVIL 37 

Now, it does not follow that because some- 
one has talked about us that we should make 
another mistake and talk about them. No! 
The only way to correct that is to correct our- 
selves. In that way we gain the mastery. In 
that way we will master all the problems of 
life. 

When we understand this truth, — Man's 
Power, that man can sit down in the silence and 
adjust all these things, bring them into perfect 
harmony, it becomes unpardonable ignorance 
for a man not to know himself and his own 
power. 

We find, therefore, that what we call Evil is 
man's mistaken action. There is only one way 
to do a thing, and that is the right way. The 
wrong way is not a way at all. If you want to 
go to the North, you must take a North-bound 
train; not a South-bound train. The law is 
unalterable. We have believed in good and 
evil. We have acted upon the principle that 
there are two powers in the world. That is 
the mistake Europe is paying the price of today. 
Mistakes made in past years. 

Poverty, sickness, sorrow, trouble and un- 
happiness of every kind come through differing 
channels, but from the same source, — Mistaken 
Thought. 



38 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

Please read thoughtfully and understand me 
in what follows. I do not mean, when I say 
that U A11 is Good," that you are to say of pov- 
erty, sickness and trouble, "This is in some way 
good for me." No ! I do not mean that at all. 
I mean to say that we have good material with 
which to build. God has imparted Himself to 
us in Creation and that being good, is the mate- 
rial with which to form our life structure. God, 
being the Substance of all things, is all Love, 
Life, Power and Presence. On and from this 
Substance we are to build. 

A certain quality of thought produces a cer- 
tain condition. No matter who sends the 
thought forth, the quality determines the con- 
dition or result. If your condition is unsatis- 
factory, if your invironment is inharmonious, 
no one is at fault but yourself. At will you 
can change them all. You know some people 
do not want to think, — they want God to do it 
all for them. He will not do that because He 
gave them the power of free and independent 
thought. For you and me there is work. We 
are Co-Workers with God and must do our 
part. 

Today, man wants to know. We must be 
definite. You ask for a position in a large cor- 
poration. They ask, "What do you know?" 



ALL IS GOOD, THERE IS NO EVIL 39 

"What are you worth?'' "Set your own price, 
but bring results/' We have first to know what 
we want and then send out the quality of thought 
that will build up and bring into manifestation 
that which we want. If we want harmony, 
send out the thought adapted to bring harmony. 
We have found that everything in creation 
is an expression of thought, either from Infinite 
Spirit or man. That thought carries different 
degrees of Life, Love, Intelligence and Power. 
We found that man is the builder, with power 
to draw from this great Universal supply any- 
thing he wants. He is not limited in thought, 
or quality or quantity. He can place himself in 
touch with this Universal Power at any time 
he may choose and bring into manifestation, — 
if he meets the conditions which are necessary 
to produce it, the thing he has definitely deter- 
mined upon. Suppose your body is out of har- 
mony, — that is, — what we call sickness. You 
brought that into your world. Now, to speak 
life and love into your body a certain quality of 
thought must carry Intelligence and Will-Power. 
That is absolutely necessary to secure healing 
of the body, but this is not the quality of thought 
which is required to bring you peace and har- 
mony. It must be an entirely different com- 
bination and quite a different one from either 



40 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

of the two to bring success in business affairs. 
So you are required to master a science: — The 
science of all sciences. We go blunderingly 
along, unconsciously using or abusing this Di- 
vine power, too indolent to give the necessary 
attention that we may become masters of our 
own powers. 

This truth is like a combination lock on a 
safe. Whoever has used one knows he has to 
turn the knob around to a certain number and 
be exact about it. If you pass one iota too far, 
you have to begin all over again. You turn 
back to the next number, and if the work was 
exact you know the door will open for you. 
Just so with the truth. If you made a mistake 
in turning the lock on either number, the door 
will not open. With the Truth you must be 
just as exact. You must meet the right number 
exactly, send out the Exact Thought in order 
to bring about that which you desire, into man- 
ifestation. 

Many persons send out the thoughts which 
bring poverty, produce trouble and sickness. 
Therefore it must come into their lives. They 
cannot escape conditions caused by their 
thoughts. The war in Europe is the result of 
mistaken thought. They have been equipped 
for war, have been preparing for war during 



ALL IS GOOD, THERE IS NO EVIL 4 1 

centuries. Could anything else come out of it 
but war? No! Consider your own Country. 
How long has it taken us to get into war? Our 
President a year ago was standing for peace 
and he was mastering every condition. For 
some good reason of his own he changed, and 
took the stump for preparedness. How long 
before we were in trouble with Mexico? How 
long did it take to get into war in Europe? We 
changed our thought. We are in war today and 
we will continue in this war until our thought 
is changed. When we change the combination 
and when we change the thought we will change 
the condition. The quality of thought required 
to manifest peace and harmony is Love. LOVE 
TO THE WHOLE WORLD. It matters 
not how much you have been disturbed. I do 
not care if your business has been destroyed, or 
that you have inharmony in your home; — go 
into the silence and say, "All is peace, — Peace, 
— All is peace, and you will swing into it and as 
you swing into it, you will change the condition. 
Love To The Whole World. This thought 
does not carry will-power. No faith is required. 
I do not care whether you believe there is a God 
or not, you do not have to. All you have to do 
is to carry that thought and you will swing into 
harmony and peace. 



42 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

This thought is a Science and when you have 
a thorough understanding of it, you can solve 
all problems of life. In mathematics, if once 
we can multiply, subtract, add and divide we 
can solve any problem ; we have only to know 
the principles by which these factors are used. 
When a man understands his own power and 
sends out the thought which builds what he 
wants, he too can solve any problem which life 
presents. 

We must not forget that thought emanates 
from us continually and according to its quality 
will be the effect. Each one uses this Divine 
power every moment, and by its quality the 
world is conditioned. So, all the evil of this 
world is of our own manufacturing. It can 
be wiped out at will. 

Now, let us take the man who steals your 
purse, which is called an evil. He reads these 
pages and finds that he has within himself a 
power which he can unfold that will bring more 
money, more happiness and more self-respect 
than robbery. He therefore changes his life, 
changes his thought and begins to direct this 
God-Power along right lines. The man is 
changed, and what you called evil in this man is 
gone forever. He used the same power, — God- 
Power, — to take your purse, but it was mis- 



ALL IS GOOD, THERE IS NO EVIL 43 

directed. There is only one power in the Uni- 
verse and that is the God-Power, or God's 
Power, Our difficulty is, that we are building 
from a mistaken viewpoint, and not from the 
Substance which God has imparted in the Crea- 
tion, but trying to found our edifice on the plan 
of 4x4=20 and thereby bringing into mani- 
festation poverty, trouble and sickness. Man 
can and does take good material and build what 
is called evil. A piano when it is in tune is 
perfect, and the person who plays it can bring 
forth exact harmony. I who do not understand 
it can bring forth only inharmony and discords. 
This is what man is doing today. He uses the 
same power to strike you down as to lift you up. 
All according to the direction given by the uses. 
"THERE IS NO EVIL,"— " ALL IS 
GOOD," because all is of and from God. 
What is called evil is man's mistaken way of 
working out or solving his problems. All the 
so-called evil is of man's building. As a man 
-unfolds and begins to understand who he is he 
changes his world. Everything has been pro- 
vided for his comfort and happiness, nothing 
is lacking, — abundance everywhere. But man 
must know how to receive and apply the laws. 
All the materials required for him to build a 
beautiful world are at his hand. Is he willing 



44 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

to meet the conditions? He must do the build- 
ing. I cannot build for you nor you build for 
me. Man is making many mistakes in so di- 
recting his power that it brings all the unsatis- 
factory conditions into his life. One may be 
experiencing much that is unpleasant and inhar- 
monious today, but he can sit down in his office 
or his home and speak the word that will adjust 
everything to peace and happiness. But we 
must meet the test ourselves, and each for him- 
self. Therefore the all important thing in life is 

MASTERY OF SELF. 

Know who you are and unfold all your powers. 
Some will tell you of two powers, spiritual and 
material — duality. That concept is at the base 
of all the world's disorders, sorrow, poverty 
and pain. Duality — Two Powers. 

The Church of the Silent Demand comes to 
you with this message: — God imparted Himself 
in Creation. He is not only the power but the 
only POWER and the Substance of everything. 
Then we understand how God is Omnipresent 
and Omnipotent: — that we can separate our- 
selves from Him only in belief, and that is only 
temporary. So what we call Evil is man-made 
and we can change it at will. 



CHAPTER IV. 
CONCENTRATION OR THE SILENCE. 



MOST of us understand that there is but 
ONE POWER in the Universe. That 
power each person is using uncon- 
sciously every day. We are directing this 
power against our business, our bodies and our 
homes, not knowing what we are doing. Our 
contact with this power is immediate and con- 
stant, therefore we direct it, consciously or un- 
consciously, at every moment. By an under- 
standing of the power of Concentration and 
Silence we learn how to direct this power, 
beneficently in our personal affairs and those of 
the larger world. 

Through the Silence alone can we come into 
conscious touch with The All Wisdom, All In- 
telligence, and All Power. It is there also that 
we are best able to direct it consciously in our 
affairs and the world around us. 

Concentration we will find very necessary in 
the progress of our unfoldment along all lines. 
Some may ask, "What do you mean by Con- 

45 



46 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

centration?" It is giving undivided attention 
to one particular thought or idea, to the ex- 
clusion of everything else. It is directing this 
Divine Power consciously to a given point. 

The man of affairs, in order to be a successful 
business man, must know how to concentrate 
and give undivided attention to every detail. 
Now, if your business is out of joint, if it is 
not as successful as it should be, do you realize 
that you can sit quietly down in the silence and 
direct that power to adjust your business affairs? 
Why does the business man have a private 
office? He has it, that there, in seclusion, he 
may master conditions; that there, he may be 
perfectly still; that there, he may get into the 
silence. Now, when the master of these forces 
becomes still, in the silence, he shuts out all con- 
tending influences, that he may come in touch 
with this Divine Wisdom which does and will 
shape his affairs. You know that you can direct 
this power for yourself or against yourself. 
The engine can pull as many cars backward as 
it can forward; — just change the lever. So in- 
deed can we direct this power against ourselves 
or for ourselves, according as we understand 
and practice the truth. 

The Burning Glass collects the sun's rays 
into a focal point where the heat is so intense 



CONCENTRATION OR THE SILENCE 47 

as to set on fire anything the concentrated rays 
touch. In the Silence one can gather this 
Divine Power, and it always accomplishes 
something. The first step is the desire. The 
desire must be for the accomplishment of some 
object which demands our undivided attention, 
otherwise we cannot expect success along any 
line whatever. 

Some complain that their thoughts w r ander 
elsewhere w T hen trying to concentrate, and they 
wonder why? It is because undivided attention 
is not given to the matter in hand. We have 
no difficulty in concentrating on the negative 
side. You have a note coming due tomorrow — 
you will think of it all day today if it is not 
provided for. Your rent is nearly due, — you 
think about it constantly. When you enter the 
Silence it is for a definite purpose. You are 
coming in touch with All Wisdom, therefore go 
consciously for a definite purpose and let that 
definite purpose take your undivided attention. 
Be so much interested in it as to be dominated 
by it, — then you will get results. 

In studying concentration take some negative 
quality in your make-up that you wish to change, 
for instance, fear. Fear is the only Devil we 
have. We fear everything. We live in the 
thought of fear. Whenever we can eliminate 



48 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

fear from consciousness, it is banished from our 
world, — we are Masters. There are but two 
qualities of thought which are necessary to ban- 
ish fear. One is consciousness of who you are; 
the other is consciousness of your power. These 
two qualities will eliminate fear. Concentrate 
upon courage. Say "I am courageous. I am 
Courage. " Say "I am more than this which I 
see before me." And you are. Swing into that 
consciousness. "I am more than failure. I am 
more than weakness." Realize who you are. 
Speak the word and march right up to it. 
WILL-POWER. Back your statement by ac- 
tion. Whatever you fear, walk right up to it 
and you will find there is nothing to fear. 

The negative quality, Jealousy, which troubles 
a great many persons, requires a different com- 
bination of attributes and activities. In this, 
you are dealing with another, outside of your- 
self. Concentrate upon Love, Rightness and 
Justice. In the presence of these jealousy will 
disappear. Carry these qualities into the 
Silence, — Love to the Whole World. "Under 
the conditions existing, all that I desire is 
Rightness. " Think Rightness. Jealousy must 
disappear. It is a Mastery of Self. That is 
the whole secret in this work. Unconsciously 
we are using this Divine Power and it responds 



CONCENTRATION OR THE SILENCE 49 

to our dominant thought. What we most sin- 
cerely desire is what we really are, because 
u as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." 
Thought becomes, when we consider it, a won- 
derful power. It embraces different qualities 
and the effect upon our lives or its demonstra- 
tion is in accord with the character of the com- 
bination. In dealing with yourself the proper 
combination will bring Mastery. Faith, Knowl- 
edge and Will-Power. These are the successful 
elements. Faith in yourself to apply it. Will- 
Power to command and enforce it, and 
Knowledge of just what you are doing, this will 
remove Fear or Jealousy or inharmony when 
you understand who you are and why you are 
possessed of these faculties. Understanding 
yourself, you can, in the quiet of your home 
or elsewhere, adjust any problem in life. Is it 
not worth knowing? Any problem that a per- 
son can possibly have to solve, can be adjusted, 
and by himself alone. The power is within 
his reach. 

Faith in the law, and in yourself to apply it. 

Knowledge of why you have faith in the law. 

Will-Power to command and enforce it. 

In dealing with the outside world we find 
quite a different combination necessary; these 
will be taken up in later chapters. 



5<3 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

CONCENTRATION and GOING INTO 
THE SILENCE are the same. How can the 
faculty of Concentration be unfolded? How 
to apply these laws, is the puzzle awaiting most 
of us. They are of little use unless we under- 
stand their application. Suppose we concen- 
trate upon every little thing we want done, — 
upon everything you wish to have brought into 
your world. Go into the silence for it. What 
will be the result? As you take up the little 
things of life you will have no anxious thought 
for the morrow, — you will see the demonstra- 
tion coming along out of the silence, and as the 
little things make the larger ones, you will find 
all the larger ones are dispelled. Most of us 
wait until health is gone, friends are lost or 
business is destroyed and then we want in great 
haste some help out of our trouble. We want 
some one or some thing to change everything 
in a day or two. If it is not done, we have no 
use for either men or things. Waiting until 
everything^ is gone and we have not the con- 
sciousness to do the work which is necessary, is 
like locking the door after the thief has taken 
all our goods. 

A man came to me and wished me to speak 
the word that would secure to him a million 
dollars while he had less than fifty cents worth 



CONCENTRATION OR THE SILENCE 5 I 

of faith. Now, how could I get that million 
dollars for him by going into the silence? 

This is a business proposition and you should 
treat it in a business way. If you wish to 
do business with me, you must come to my 
office. 

Enter the silence by yourself. Secure a posi- 
tion of comfort in order that nothing attract 
the attention. You have a definite purpose. 
Something in your life or business requires 
adjustment. You get perfectly still and trust 
the law to do the work. Trust yourself to 
speak the word, because you understand there 
is but one Power. u Let there be, and there 
was." Now you can sit down and say, u Let 
there be, and there is." I repeat, — get perfectly 
still and into a positive state of mind. Do not 
carry your trouble into the silence. Say, "I am 
master." "I am coming in touch with this 
Power which built everything in this world." 

As a beginner it is well that you have a key 
word to enable you to shut out everything of an 
outside character. You may have something 
depressing you. There may be conditions of 
inharmony in the home. You will be tempted 
to carry these things into the silence. Do not 
do it. You may have some business trouble 
and you want to carry that into the silence. Do 



52 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

not do that. You are alone there with All 
Wisdom. Let a higher Power w r ork for you. 

I will give you something to carry into the 
silence. When perfectly still and at your ease, 
close your eyes — give your whole attention to 
it, — look out and see if you can see something 
"BLUE." In carrying this out if your thoughts 
begin to wander, break the silence, stop right 
there and begin over again. If you can see the 
Blue, come back and speak the word for what- 
ever you want, but on no account carry your 
trouble into the silence. If you do, there will 
be no results. 

There are some to whom these thoughts are 
new. You can begin their practice at once. 
The silence should be entered twice daily and 
the word spoken for yourself. Do not allow 
your business to fall out of harmony, — speak 
the word every morning before you leave your 
home. Determine what you want to see mani- 
fested. Speak for that. Do not forget this,— 
it is important. 

In speaking the word for yourself or others 
this should be said — "Let the way open that 
this or that may come into manifesta- 
tion." One may want a position. You may 
say, "Infinite Spirit, let the way open, that 
may have such a position as he is 



CONCENTRATION OR THE SILENCE 53 

equipped to fill. Be definite and state the time. 
Then, in the evening speak the word of thank- 
fulness that the way has opened for this one. 
Speak the word but once. If you do more than 
that you are doubting your own word. Trust 
your word. If you have not arrived at full 
faith in the law, take up some problem which 
does not carry any anxious thought. Speak the 
word for another. Then it will not have such 
personality and will not contain anxious thought 
for yourself. 

Some persons ask this question: u Why can I 
speak the word so well for another and not for 
myself?" Because in speaking the word for 
yourself the anxious thought is carried into the 
request, — while in speaking for another you 
trust the law, without personal anxiety. 

At first, remain in the silence but a few 
moments. As soon as thought begins to wander, 
break the silence. Practice Concentration. All 
successful work in the silence is done through 
concentration, in healing, in success in business, 
and in the mastery of self. 

I cannot too strongly impress upon your mind 
the importance of this lesson. The practice of 
the silence should be taken up at once. It is 
here alone that we come in touch with the Great 
Universal Power. The control of thought is 



54 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

the cause of everything in our world and can be 
secured only by the practice of Concentration. 
Our thoughts build our world. If your world is 
not w T hat you would have it, look yourself over 
and send out positive thoughts. Each one 
knows what he is doing, and where he is living. 
If living in the thought of limitation, change 
the thought to abundance. If you are living in 
the thought of fear, change it to courage, and 
you will see that your condition will change in 
the same degree that your thought is changed. 
To be MASTER OF YOURSELF, and 
MASTER OF YOUR WORLD, you must 
first be Master of your Thought, for only so 
can you send out the right combination. Con- 
centration is the absolute necessity for definite 
work. Without practice in Concentration I 
question if one can sit in the silence for five 
seconds with absolute control of his thoughts. 
They will wander everywhere. That is what 
we are doing constantly. That is one reason 
why many are unable to make conscious demon- 
stration. We must learn that thought, not feel- 
ing is to control. That law, not sensation 
governs success. Many persons get excited 
over every trifle. We must learn control of 
feeling in order to get satisfactory results and 
conditions, 



CONCENTRATION OR THE SILENCE 55 

Why should we be subject to unpleasant ex- 
periences when it is possible for each one to say 
what is coming into our world tomorrow, next 
week or next month? All we have to do is to 
Master Ourselves. Definite work is necessary 
in order to secure satisfactory manifestation. 
We must be Masters of Ourselves. In order to 
control the Cause we must reach the Mastery 
through the silence. Know what we are doing. 
Know how we are directing this Great Uni- 
versal Power, whether for ourselves, or against 
ourselves. This control can be secured only by 
using the power of Concentration in everything 
and everywhere. In this way its power and 
value are most quickly and definitely unfolded. 
And while we are consciously receiving from 
the Great Universal Supply, we are also im- 
parting to a given point, through the silence. 

Let me again emphasize the necessity for 
Positive Thought. If you have negative 
thoughts you cannot expect satisfactory results. 
You know, perhaps, some persons who have 
been practicing this for a long time who persist 
in carrying negative, or receiving negative 
thought, and wonder why they get no results. 
Some will tell you to enter the silence and just 
listen. That brings you nothing. There must 
be definite, positive thought, Man is Co- 



56 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

Worker with God. God is not wondering how 
His thoughts will result. Man, the builder 
under God, must be as clear, as definite and as 
positive as the Master. We are building every 
minute something in and for our world. Con- 
sciously or unconsciously, w T e build. 

Therefore, when you go into the silence, go 
for a definite purpose. Every thought and 
every word should be charged with purpose and 
after that is completed, break the silence. This 
will close the mind against those negative 
thoughts and negative conditions. When 
speaking the w T ord for another, be positive and 
realize that you are directing this Great Uni- 
versal Power to their relief or benefit. 

THE SILENCE IS THE PLACE OF 
POWER. Here is w r here we come in conscious 
touch with ALL POWER. The more con- 
scious we are of that Wisdom, that Power, that 
Intelligence, which is within our reach, the bet- 
ter will be the results. In the Silence we deal 
with the Cause of Things. When we come to 
understand that we are the cause of everything 
in our world, we are able to change the 
conditions by coming into His stillness, and 
in conscious touch with this Great Divine 
Power, turn it in our favor or against our- 
selves. 



CONCENTRATION OR THE SILENCE 57 

There is one large corporation in Chicago 
which has a Silence Room and once every day 
the officers of that Company visit that room 
either as a body or singly as they need. A 
business man can sit down in his office and 
adjust business matters a thousand miles away. 
This is of daily occurrence. 

Reader, — begin the silence today. Speak 
the word for yourself. Any honest desire, any- 
thing you wish to see brought into manifesta- 
tion, you may see met if you bring the right 
spirit in your request. But do not ask for a 
million dollars if you have only a twenty-five 
cent faith. You w T on't get it. Ask for anything 
you have the FAITH that you can receive by a 
spoken word and you will receive it. It is not 
the question of how much you ask for, — it is 
the question whether you are master of your- 
self, and that comes through the silence. 

Study this lesson over again. Use it every 
day and some night you will be able to say, "I 
have spoken for myself today and the reply i.s 
manifest." 



CHAPTER V. 
HEALING SELF AND OTHERS. 



SO long as man continues to make mistakes, 
so long will he continue those unpleasant 
experiences which are called sickness, 
sorrow and trouble. But when we come to 
understand ourselves and know what has been 
provided for us, then all these experiences will 
pass out of our lives. Inasmuch as we are all 
liable to make these mistakes, w T e should learn 
how to correct them. Mastery of both body 
and environment is possible to all. 

In our first chapter w T e found that God, or 
First Cause imparted Himself in the Creation. 
We learned that God, or First Cause is all 
Intelligence, all Love, all Life, all Power and 
that all is Mind or Spirit. Let the reader 
fasten this in his consciousness: — That God 
imparted Himself in Creation. That man is 
its most complete expression. These are the 
qualities which were imparted: — all Intelli- 
gence, all Life, all Love, all Power, and that 
{ill is Mind or Spirit. If therefore, God irr> 

§8 



HEALING SELF AND OTHERS 59 

parted Himself in Creation, these are the 
Substance which He imparted to man. All 
Substance must have a degree of intelligence, a 
degree of life, a degree of love, and a degree of 
power. 

From this premise we begin to know how 
man, the master-mind in the created, can speak 
to these intelligences and they obey. God 
said — "Let there be," and there was. This 
power has been imparted to man. Man said — 
"Let there be a bridge of steel thrown across 
the East River," and there was. Man said, — 
u Let the lightning be chained," and it became 
his servant. But man is a spiritual being. 
Why should he not have full commerce with 
Spiritual Powers? He does. He may sit down 
in the silence and come into immediate touch 
with the All Power, and let it speak through 
him and say — u Let there be," and there is. 

As there is but one Power in the whole crea- 
tion, man must use this or none. He directs it 
consciously or unconsciously to any part of his 
body. Our bodies have a degree of intelligence, 
and we can speak to this intelligence. It will 
obey. 

The cause of this inharmony which we call 
sickness is, that we have been telling these little 
minds pf which our bodies are composed, that 



6o RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

which is not true. We have filled these little 
minds with fear. Fear of a draft, — fear of 
certain foods, — fear of contagion, — fear of 
microbes. We have told these little minds, 
"you are sick." We have said to these little 
minds, — U I am not master." "You are the 
masters." They hold the thought. The 
master-mind must eradicate this impression. 
We are responsible for everything that enters 
into our lives or touches our bodies. When we 
tell these little minds that which is not true they 
enlarge upon what we have told them. 

Any up-to-date medical man will tell you that 
every organ manifests a degree of intelligence. 
Of the food w T e consume each organ takes only 
what it can use and passes the remainder on 
to some other organ. In case of injury to one 
part, all the other parts hasten to offer it restor- 
ation. Every part supplies something to aid 
recovery. This is true of nature everywhere. 
She tries to cover wounds and scars wherever 
made. So in the externals of life around us a 
degree of intelligence is seen. 

As soon as the truth is understood and 
spoken truly, what is called sickness will ■ dis- 
appear. Nothing unusual about it. Nothing 
mysterious. It is simply to understand and 
exercise the power of man in the spiritual world. 



HEALING SELF AND OTHERS 6 I 

The physician of the future will be a teacher. 
He is now dealing with effect; — he will then be 
dealing with the cause. We are the cause. We 
bring about a condition and then send for a 
physician. He treats the effect which we have 
brought into manifestation. Later he will learn 
to treat the cause. Instead of looking at your 
tongue or feeling your pulse, he will ask, — 
u What have you been telling these little minds 
of which your body is made up? What have 
you been telling them? Where are you living 
today, mentally? He will diagnose your men- 
tality instead of your body because that is the 
source of your malady. He will begin to deal 
with the cause. It is a source of gratification 
that many thoughtful physicians are now study- 
ing the mental causes of all disease along this 
line and embodying its principles in their practice. 

Law governs all conditions. There is a law 
of Health. To this law of Health the truth 
must always be spoken. By telling an untruth 
the law is violated and you must pay the penalty. 
Did you ever consider what this means in your 
life? Have you thought you could say any- 
thing that you wished? A lady will tell her 
servant to say, — "I am not at. home today," 
when she is at home. This is an untruth and 
the penalty must be paid in full. 



62 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

In allowing oneself to become angry, the laws 
of health are violated. To admit worry or 
despondency to enter the mind, is to open the 
door and invite what we call sickness. But 
when the Mastery is obtained and we send out 
thoughts of truth, we come into perfect health. 
How many persons who read this page have 
proved this ? How many can witness that worry 
affects the body, and anxiety disturbs all its 
functions? Why, then, will you continue to 
permit these things to produce disease and in- 
harmony in your life? You do not have to be 
a thief, a hold-up man or a forger to violate 
law. Every day the laws of health are broken; 
the law T s of business and all laws relating to your 
well being are disregarded, and therefore you 
can expect nothing but unsatisfactory conditions. 

The Mastery of one's thoughts and words 
are necessary to perfect health. "As one think- 
eth in his heart, so is he." But so long as mis- 
takes are made and the laws of health are 
violated it is quite important for us to under- 
stand how to restore normal conditions. That 
is what this lesson is presenting. 

Now, the best way to heal ourselves is to 
begin at the root. That is, to heal ourselves of 
making mistakes. Then we have less work to 
do later on. Mastery of self is to heal us of 



HEALING SELF AND OTHERS 63 

our mistakes. The fourth chapter taught that 
Mastery comes only through the silence. Mas- 
tery of thoughts. Mastery of words, mastery 
of your world comes through the silence. Many 
who read this page have proven this. You sit 
alone in the silence and speak the word which 
opens the door to health. In treating for health, 
as for all other conditions, always find the cause 
if you can. When the cause is removed condi- 
tions are changed at once. Bring the truth to 
the problem and error will disappear. 

When the cause is inharmony, speak the word 
for rightness, love and justice to be made mani- 
fest in the home, — and in the body. If it is the 
thought of lack, and so many of us are carrying 
that today, — lack and limitation in finance, — 
speak the word for joy, happiness, abundance 
for one living in the thought of lack and limita- 
tion. No one can hold that thought very long 
and still have lack in their world. 

Is it fear? Speak the word for courage. 
You may find it to be lack of self-control, — "all 
strung up, — tense" — ready to break. Speak the 
word for poise. For mastery of self. 

All these mental conditions manifest in our 
bodies and in our affairs. These conditions will 
continue and increase so long as we continue to 
hold these negative thoughts. "To him that 



64 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

hath, more shall be given. " So it depends on 
what you and I have and use, what our enlarge- 
ment shall be. If we have inharmony in the 
home and are living in that thought, we will 
have more of it, — abundance of it. If we are 
living in any thought that is violating the law — 
any law whose violation brings inharmony in 
the body or out of it — we shall have still more. 
u To him who hath, more shall be given." This 
is a positive truth. So our life today indicates 
what our world will be next week, next month, 
next year. 

In healing yourself or others, first get still, 
inside and outside. Perfectly still. You may 
at first be obliged to go away by yourself, and 
say, — Peace, — peace, — all is peace. No matter 
if it requires fifteen minutes before the state of 
absolute peace is secured, — sit in the silence and 
repeat, — Peace, all is peace. Sooner or later 
the consciousness that all is peace will transfuse 
and transform the spirit. 

Following this, secure a positive state of 
mind. Never enter the silence in a negative 
state of mind. When you do, the door is opened 
to everything outside, far and near. A negative 
state is receptive. The healer may, if negative, 
take on the quality of thought of the one he 
wishes to heal. Failure, of course. Do not be 



HEALING SELF AND OTHERS 65 

negative. Be positive. Go into the silence with 
a definite purpose. Get perfectly still. Close 
the eyes and send out the conscious mind into 
the Universal. Out, out, far out, and pretty 
soon you will lose yourself. That is concentra- 
tion. This is concentrating for the work which 
you will have to do later on. Mastery of your 
mentality. Mastery of your mind. Send out 
the mind and continue sending it out until it is 
possible for you to see a light blue. Of course 
your eyes are closed. Now, when the blue light 
is reached, and you are conscious of what you 
entered the silence to accomplish, speak the word 
for just what you wish to see come into mani- 
festation. You have no idea of the power that 
lies within each one until it is proven to and by 
yourself. 

Recently a lady came to me and said, "We 
are going to have a little gathering. There is 
inharmony in that gathering and it is not work- 
ing out as it should. Will you speak the word?" 
I went home and spoke the word. Immediately 
afterward I received a letter from the lady say- 
ing that it worked perfectly. Now, each one 
has the same power. Each one can speak the 
word as well as I. The object of this lesson is 
to help you to self-mastery, — to stand upon your 



66 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

own feet and not to lean upon any prop less 
than All Power, all love and all life. 

Should there be inharmony at a given place 
in the body, — say, for instance, the arm, — speak 
the word to that particular place. Address your 
master mind to those little minds which are 
active in that part or place which is disturbing 
you. They will obey. To the little minds 
which go to make up any part of the body, 
speak the word. There is intelligence and there 
w T ill be obedience. 

Should there be a fever, one must be careful 
about his words. Certain words will increase 
the fever. In fever cases bathe the entire 
body mentally with Infinite health and normal 
conditions. Begin at the top of the head, 
and bathe, mentally, the entire body clear to 
the feet, as you would with a sponge. You will 
here recognize the importance of the lesson on 
concentration. I question if some can accom- 
plish this, but it can be done by practice, daily. 
Bathe the patient from head to foot mentally 
and look right through the skin. First bathe 
the inside and second, the outside of the skin. 
You can reduce the fever, — how well will de- 
pend upon your power of concentration. If you 
are good in concentrating the fever will be re- 
duced in two hours at the longest. 



HEALING SELF AND OTHERS 67 

In case of weakness, bathe in Infinite Health 
and Strength, in Vigor, Life and normal condi- 
tions. You will note the difference in the word- 
ing. It is important. This treatment given in 
a fever case would increase the fever. So you 
must know what you are doing. As I have said, 
the future physician will be dealing with the 
cause of things instead of their effect, and be 
better able than now to remove the cause of all 
inharmony of the body. 

On every occasion, whether treating yourself 
or another, make full preparation to speak the 
word, and only the right word. In treating a 
fever, do not come from the outer world of 
affairs without any preparation. To secure the 
best results, prepare yourself and get in touch 
with the Divine Power consciously, and then it 
will speak through you. Speak to these little 
intelligences what you want, and they will 
understand. 

Many ladies who are lovers of flowers tell 
me that flowers understand what they say to 
them. Some say they have great luck in the 
culture of flowers because they love them and 
speak to them and the flowers bloom for them. 
It is simply the intelligence of the flower that 
understands and responds to your affection. 



68 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

We have a Persian cat that has intelligence. 
When it wants its breakfast in the morning it 
goes under the table and puts its paw on the 
bell and it rings in the kitchen. The maids, for 
a time, used to come in, but as they have be- 
come used to it, they give but little attention to 
the early call. But that cat knows enough to 
ring the bell ; his intelligence tells him that when 
he rings the bell it brings something to eat. Do 
you tell me that animals have no intelligence? 
Now, in reference to your health, — do not 
wait and neglect your body until its functions 
are out of harmony. The same advice applies 
to your business affairs. This is the mistake 
you make. You wait until you are what you 
call sick, — the body is out of harmony before 
you give it attention. If you want perfect 
health begin to-day and speak the truth to every 
organ of your body, and speak it twice daily, 
and health will come and the perfect function- 
ing of every part. Begin at the top of the head 
and proceed downwards, speaking to each in 
turn. Say, "Infinite Spirit, let the way be open 
that my brain be clear and alert, just as it should 
be, — my throat, the bronchial tubes, the lungs, 
all manifest perfect health." Speak to each 
twice daily. Call to account every organ of 
the body and it will respond; do not allow one 



HEALING SELF AND OTHERS 69 

to go unspoken. Do not tell these little minds 
untruths and wait till you are compelled to go 
to bed before you give the body its due con- 
sideration. 

Perhaps you do the same thing in your busi- 
ness. Regardless of what you might do to 
avert disaster, you let it go all to pieces. When 
it becomes out of joint you want help. Unless 
you speak the word for your business every 
day; — every morning express your desire, and 
every evening your thankfulness that the way 
has been opened for its success, it is liable to 
be destroyed; — and that by your own indiffer- 
ence, or ignorance. Speak the word from the 
silence and then, trust the law. Trust your 
spoken word. Do not question yourself and 
wonder if u that was spoken just right ?" Do 
not say, "I don't know if that was the right 
thing to do." Go into the silence with a definite 
purpose and become perfectly still. Let the 
Divine Power speak through you and trust the 
power which these words direct and you will 
get results. 

In absent work, speak into the Universal but 
with an absolutely definite purpose and with 
definite words. Time and space have nothing 
to do with the spoken word, — your conscious- 
ness is the sole basis. 



70 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

This lesson is to help you get an understand- 
ing of your own power, — then you will become 
conscious of Mastery. Mastery, not alone of 
your body, nor yet of your home affairs, but 
also of your business. Sitting in the silence you 
can say, "Infinite Spirit, let the way open that 
I am covered up with orders"; and you can 
start the incoming. In the silence you may 
speak the word which will multiply the income 
from your business. You are speaking to in- 
telligence. You are using the great power that 
says, "Let there be," and there is. So can you 
say, "Let there be, no matter what it may be." 

What has been the difficulty heretofore? 
You have been telling these intelligences un- 
truths. You have talked to your bodies and 
told them untruths and they have responded 
accordingly. That is the reason for your sick- 
ness, your trouble and heartache today. 

Allow a word of recapitulation for emphasis. 
Live in the thought that you are power. Gain 
power by doing. If you would increase the 
strength of your arm, you must use it. If you 
want more faith in yourself and this law, you 
must practice both. Use the little faith you 
have. Begin to treat someone today. Speak 
the word for someone somewhere and prove 
that you have the power. You may know of one 



HEALING SELF AND OTHERS 7 I 

whose business is at odds, or one whose health 
is failing. They may be helped. Do not do 
this for yourself alone, — it is not that, but by 
doing for others you become conscious that you 
are a power and that it is possible for its dem- 
onstration in every act of your life. So, get to 
w T ork. 



CHAPTER VI. 

HOW TO APPLY THESE PRINCIPLES 
IN BUSINESS. 



THERE .is no place where these truths are 
more needed than in the field of affairs. 
You understand that it is possible for you 
to bring success to yourself out of what is called 
failure. This is literally true of you who read 
this page. You have only to understand and 
use your true power. 

We are told that 90 to 95 per cent of busi- 
ness men fail at some time during their business 
career. This should not be. There is no reason 
why it should be so because everyone may reach 
that understanding by which he can come in 
touch with All Wisdom, — an intelligence which 
will guide in all business as well as in all mental, 
moral and spiritual affairs. When a man un- 
derstands his possibilities, when he understands 
who he is and why he is here, then he learns 
why he should be the master. 

We live in a world of change. We live in 
a world where most of us believe in limitation. 

72 



APPLICATION IN BUSINESS 73 

Few ever had enough of what they wanted, 
perhaps of what they needed. We see poverty 
on every hand, and people limited along all 
lines; limited in every way. It is possible for 
us to get out of the bondage of limitation. And 
furthermore we must, before we can come into 
the realization of abundance. 

We admit that we see limitation on every 
hand. But why? It is because you and I have 
sent out a thought that brings limitation into 
our world, and therefore, nothing else can come. 
Your thoughts and your words, my thoughts 
and my words build our world. Create your 
atmosphere. The Scripture saith, "For every 
idle word you shall give account." Every word 
you speak means something to your world, so 
for every good word spoken much good comes 
to you out of good words spoken. 

We are born with an "I want." The mo- 
ment one enters the world he wants something 
and that want continues to increase so long as 
he remains here. Whenever we want a certain 
thing and it is brought into manifestation, we 
want something more; — something else. So 
the "I wants" grow. And that is right. That 
is best for us ; it is God pushing us along to 
something better. This Great Universal Power 
pushes us on because everything that we can 



74 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

possibly want has been provided for us. It is 
in the unseen and we have to learn how to reach 
into the unseen world and bring it into the seen, 
and to the degree we are able to do that, are 
we able to satisfy all our "I wants." 

We have been taught just the opposite of 
much that this lesson contains. We have be- 
lieved in Duality. We have believed in two 
Powers. We have accepted evil and good as 
opposing forces in the universe. We have con- 
sidered the Spiritual and the Material as dis- 
tinct from and adverse to each other. Two 
substances cannot exist. Matter is but the man- 
ifestation of spirit in coarser form. Here we 
find that there is but one power. There is but 
one substance, and that is mind, or Spirit, — 
God. Not until we enter into this realization, 
— come into its full consciousness, — do we be- 
gin to see man's possibilities. 

There was a time, — perhaps it is still linger- 
ing with some of us, — when it was not thought 
right to talk about our business on Sunday 
morning. As business is quite a part of each 
life and as life is sacred, there is nothing in 
which we can properly engage which is not 
equally sacred. Most of us spend from twelve 
to fourteen hours in business every day. The 
housewife is in business. A sacred occupation. 



APPLICATION IN BUSINESS 75 

However, when we understand ourselves and 
what has been provided for us, there will open 
a way by which we do not give so many hours 
to business. A division of time and labor, — 
so many hours to business, so many to recrea- 
tion, and so many hours to be spent in helping 
others. 

Let me repeat. We know that all substance 
is mind or Spirit, — God. We know there is 
abundance everywhere. When a man knows 
how to build out of this abundance, all his "I 
wants" will be satisfied. When he realizes that 
he is master of any problem that presents itself 
this condition will come into manifestation. 
All "wants" will be met. 

You say that business with you is not going 
as it should. You are responsible for it. If 
you would change your business, it is yourself 
that must change first. To the degree, and in 
the quality of the change in you, will the char- 
acter and the quality of your, business be 
changed. Its success lies in you. So long as 
you accept and carry the thought of limitation, 
— so long as you admit that the business is get- 
ting poorer every day, you are doing the very 
thing that will drive it out of existence. 

Every sincere student of this truth finds that 
there is a universal bank to which he has free 



76 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

access, with unlimited credit. He must under- 
stand his account and know how to draw his 
check. Whenever a check is drawn according 
to law it is immediately honored. It is neces- 
sary for one to know just how to draw the 
check. If correctly drawn, — just as this great 
universal bank demands, — it will be honored 
every time. That is what we are studying now. 
How to draw T the check that will bring, — shall 
I say, — dollars? — yes, dollars to us. 

For every possible want of man provision 
has been made. He must know how to do his 
part, and then he must do it. With every con- 
dition fulfilled, the law will compel him to take 
the returns. If you violate the law you pay the 
penalty. If you fulfill the conditions of success 
the law forces you to take that, — the conditions 
of which you have met. You cannot fulfill the 
conditions of success without receiving success, 
— it cannot be done. 

In drawing from this great universal supply 
house, you must realize the truth of things as 
they are. You cannot believe in error. You 
must omit error from the account and comply 
with the conditions of this great universal 
bank. 

We find that all is law, and there is a law of 
finance as well as a law of business affairs. 



APPLICATION IN BUSINESS 



77 



There is no such thing as luck. Everyone who 
succeeds has in some way complied with this law 
of success. What now interests you and me is, 
how to comply with this law. 

Allow me to give you this illustration. A 
gentleman, — a shipper of heavy goods, — gave 
me this experience. For the past few months 
there have been embargoes on all the railroads. 
It became necessary for him to ship three or 
four cars of goods. From the teachings of this 
law, he understands that it was possible for him 
to secure the moving of these cars as it was very 
necessary. He went into the silence for the pur- 
pose. He told me that he was u Surprised at the 
result." "I was able to move those cars." The 
embargo was on the road, but he was living 
under a different law. He was master of the 
situation. He came in touch with the great 
universal Power consciously and said, u Let the 
way be opened," and it opened. 

What the reader of this page wants to know 
is, how to comply with this law which brings 
what so many call luck. There are things 
which he must do. Let us consider first those 
things which he must not do. 

Never ask or expect something for nothing. 
If you do, you violate the law of compensation, 
and you will not ^get satisfactory returns. Pay 



78 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

your way. Perhaps you know people who, in a 
street car, look out of the window as the con- 
ductor passes them, and so, — save a nickel. Do 
you know what that means ? Saving that nickel 
will cost you dollars. The quality of thought 
sent out will take many dollars from you and 
your world. If you cheat someone out of a 
dollar you are beating yourself out of hundreds 
of dollars. There is a law of compensation 
with which we must comply. 

Next, we must not hunt for something cheap. 
Cheap thoughts will always bring cheap returns. 
Some ladies, for instance, look and wait for 
bargain day. Do you know what bargain day 
costs them? It keep them forever looking for 
bargains. Never say you cannot afford this, or 
that. Your spoken word will bring you into a 
position where you never can afford, — anything. 
It is wise to consider what our words mean. 
Nor should we forget that thoughts are things, 
as well. 

You say that your business is bad, — getting 
poorer and poorer every day. Your thought 
and words will surely bring it into manifesta- 
tion. If you say, "I cannot afford this, I cannot 
afford that," you are advancing rapidly to the 
point where your words will prove true. I am 
repeating this as it is necessary to impress upon 



APPLICATION IN BUSINESS 79 

your mind ineradicably that it means everything 
to your world what you say regarding it. 

Never pay out money grudgingly or with re- 
gret. Let it go cheerfully. Make up your mind 
that it matters little if you have but one dollar. 
Decide before you spend that dollar that you 
want that something more than that dollar, — 
then let it go cheerfully. Think that what you 
get means more to you than the dollar you 
spent. Live in the thought. Do not regret that 
you have sent the money out, or that you are 
without it. This means something in your 
world. To regret having spent the money is to 
violate law, which has a penalty attached to 
it, and you will pay that penalty to the last 
farthing. 

Never, never say, u My business is getting 
poorer. Why do I say this? Because, when 
you send out a thought, you believe what you 
say. You believe your business is losing ground. 
That is complying with the law which brings 
about the condition. Now, if you can believe, 
you may come into a consciousness which en- 
ables you to say, u My business is improving, — 
getting better every day, growing in quality and 
volume. " You will see in manifestation what 
you think and what you are saying. If you are 
conscious of meeting a condition, you will see it 



80 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

in manifestation. So when you say that busi- 
ness is getting poorer, you believe what you say 
and comply with the law which will bring the 
returns of getting poorer still. 

There are many business men and business 
houses, when things drop off a little, who say, 
"Business is not quite so good this month as it 
was last," and they begin to study for places to 
retrench, cut off expenses. They call in their 
salesmen from the road; and talk to their part- 
ners, and say, "We must retrench." Do you 
understand what they are doing? Do they un- 
derstand? They are sending out a quality of 
thought that will bring disaster to any com- 
pany, I do not care how large it is. We induce 
conditions which bring disaster and then wonder 
why things go wrong with us. We are per- 
sonally at fault. 

The young man reading this page, — to you 
let me say, You have within yourself the power 
to build just as high as you want to build. You 
are limited only by your aspirations. Your 
world lies in your making. The thought you 
are sending out is building your future habita- 
tion. It is plastic now, it may crystallize around 
you later. Do not rely upon any employer but 
God. Do not rely upon anything outside of 
yourself except Divine Power, and you may 



APPLICATION IN BUSINESS 8l 

build just as good a business, just as large a 
business as you wish. 

WHAT WE MUST DO. Let us consider 
some of those things. 

First: — We must control ourselves in the 
home. Must have perfect harmony there. No 
man can succeed in business with inharmony in 
the home. There of all places peace and har- 
mony must reign. When a husband and wife 
agree and everything is at peace, they can sit 
down in the silence together and speak the word 
which will open any business, or that will start 
success out of failure. The possibility of hus- 
band and wife to do work in the home is some- 
thing wonderful. 

Second: — We must control ourselves in the 
business world. Everything must be based on 
the principles of rightness if you desire perma- 
nent success. You can comply with the law of 
success and secure it while violating the law in 
another way, the results of which you will reap 
later on. This is hair-line work. 

There was a firm in Chicago which conducted 
its affairs by questionable methods. It was 
carrying on a large business, but went into bank- 
ruptcy. The firm could not pay ten cents on 
the dollar. This result was in consequence of 
wrong methods. The law of success had been 



82 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

complied with for a time and success had been 
crowded upon it, but the moment the quality of 
thought was changed, the moment it began to 
grasp from someone else, the moment the viola- 
tion of law began, that moment began the reap- 
ing which resulted in bankruptcy, the penalty 
of violation. 

Attention must first be given to the silence, 
where you ask for wisdom. Then, build a pic- 
ture of what you want. I repeat, build a picture 
of just what you want, — like the architect, 
drawing a complete plan for a cathedral. What 
is the purpose of your building? What is the 
size, design and character? Find out at first 
what you want. Then build. What business 
will you enter upon? What eminence do you 
wish to reach? Put the goal up there, — what 
height do you want to attain? Draw your men- 
tal outline, fill in every part, and then put heart, 
soul and attention in that direction and never 
lose the thought of reaching your goal, and you 
certainly will achieve. 

There is a gentleman in New York having 
in his employ three or four hundred men at the 
present time. He once related to me the follow- 
ing incident: "I was very fond of music and 
especially the Opera. My salary w 7 as not large 
at the time and I could not afford a high priced 






APPLICATION IN BUSINESS 83 

seat and so, went into the gallery. But I was 
interested. As I sat there one evening I saw 
a man walk down the aisle, in a full dress suit 
and take a seat about the fifth or sixth row from 
the stage. I placed that in my mind and it was 
not very long before I was sitting in the fifth 
or sixth row wearing a dress suit." So it is with 
the picture which you build. If you surround it 
with limitations, if it is charged with poverty, 
if you build a picture of inharmony and un- 
happiness, you will see all your anticipated con- 
ditions brought into your world. As you read 
this page, come directly to this realization. You 
can have just what you want. No one can limit 
you in thought, in ambition, or in achievement 
but yourself. You can sit down with this little 
volume in your hand and make yourself any- 
thing that you wish. It all depends on the 
quality of thought which you send forth. You 
can speak the word, u Let there be." Do you 
question this? Do you smile incredulously? 
Well, prove it for yourself. Do not take the 
word which you have read; just give it personal 
proof. That is the only way. Then, you know. 
Depend upon the silence. Let the All Wis- 
dom guide you and there can be no mistake. 
Every mistake costs something. "Trust in the 
Lord with all thine heart and lean not to thine 



84 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

own understanding." "In all thy ways acknowl- 
edge Him and he shall direct thy path." No 
mistakes there. 

As I have said before, be definite. Know 
what you want and speak the word definitely 
for that. If you want an increase in business, 
state the amount and have faith in yourself, as 
you speak the word. If you have but little 
faith, ask for but little as that is all you will get. 

If you wish anything brought into manifesta- 
tion, follow it to a finish. Suppose you want 
to go to England or other foreign countries. 
Ask for the way to open that this come into 
manifestation. If you want a new dress or a 
new hat, speak the word. Be definite. Name 
the price you will pay and then see yourself in 
it. Hold that thought until you see it in mani- 
festation. Do not begin and then weaken. 
That does not bring you anywhere or to any- 
thing. Hold persistently to that for which you 
start : — run the race to the end and you will see 
its full realization. It is a business proposition. 
This lesson is for business and that is why In- 
sistence is laid on your being definite and per- 
sistent. As I repeat, — if you want to go to 
England, see yourself getting off the boat and 
hold the thought to a finish. Build a picture, 
then fill in the outlines to a completed fact. 



APPLICATION IN BUSINESS 85 

Never let go. Whatever you begin, hold on 
until it is brought into manifestation. 

Young man, you are reading this page and 
wishing you had a* better position. You are not 
obliged to remain where you are. Whatever 
the position you want, begin to-day and speak 
the word for it. Look for it. Comply with 
every condition right where you are. Do the 
best you can, the present place may improve as 
soon as you are thoroughly equipped for it. 
The position for which you are speaking the 
word will appear and the law will push you 
into it. 

But you would like to start a business for 
yourself? You have not a dollar of capital. 
You can start that business today if you will. 
But in what way? You can draw upon the great 
universal bank of which you have been reading. 
It is within your reach to draw all the dollars 
that you are equipped to manage. What is the 
condition? You must be equipped to furnish all 
the thought capital required in the business. 
That is all that is necessary. There must be an 
earnest desire for a particular business. You 
must have faith in yourself to carry it to a 
success. You must be willing to assume all the 
responsibility that goes with it. Having these 
qualifications, you must sit down in the silence 



86 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

and draw the money, — all the money that is 
required to carry on that business. There is 
abundance of money everywhere looking for 
just such an opportunity. All you have to do 
is to equip yourself and the law will bring the 
two together. Equip yourself and speak the 
word and the door wall open. 

It is necessary, first, to master ourselves. We 
will find that we can control the outer to the 
degree that we master ourselves, — the cause, — 
the within. We do not have to overcome any- 
thing, there is nothing to overcome. Bring out 
of yourself your latent possibilities. Each for 
himself. Win the battle in the silence — it is the 
mastery of self. 

If you want harmony in the home, find it first 
in the silence, in the spoken word and then in 
action. Follow it to a finish. Carry the spoken 
word into action. Act harmony, do those 
things which suggest harmony and which bring 
harmony, and harmony will come. Do what 
you will, you cannot escape the law. All must 
do their part. 

Do you want success in your affairs? Then 
speak the word and think success, act success 
and see yourself a success. Build the picture, 
put it in its proper frame, omit nothing, — suc- 
cess will come, 



APPLICATION IN BUSINESS 87 

You have heard of Henry Gordon Selfridge, 
formerly a partner with Marshall Field of 
Chicago. He started a large business in Lon- 
don. He said, u Before I ever set foot on the 
shore of England I had a big department store 
all worked out in detail in my mind. I could 
see the great crowd of purchasers. I was doing 
a splendid business in London before I ever saw 
it." There is the exact point. He complied 
with the law of success and success pushed itself 
upon him. He did not believe that the English 
people were so slow and unprogressive as not to 
respond to the same business methods which 
had proved so successful in America. He had 
succeeded in establishing his business before he 
reached London. What do you think of his 
experience? It was not an experiment, — it w 7 as 
not luck nor chance. It was business. He was 
a thorough business man. He is complying with 
the law of success, and for you and for me the 
law will act in the same manner and bring the 
same returns. See yourself a success. 

Let me give you a rough explanation of this 
proposition. You can see in your pocketbook 
one hundred dollars, if you please. You put it 
in there, — so many tens, so many fives and put 
in a twenty between, if you wish, to make it a 
hundred, or fifty, qy twenty-five, — just as you 



88 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

like, — whatever amount you see. If you wlil 
see it there, — continue to see it there and never 
change it, I will guarantee that you will see the 
money. Now, this is not theory. It is some- 
thing that I have proven myself. I know from 
a most practical experience what I am placing 
in words upon this page. And I am telling you 
that you can do the same thing. But you can- 
not be vacillating. You must continue to hold 
fast the idea. Shut your eyes and count it. 
Count it every morning and every night. A 
little later on you will see it. It is not 
theory. It is something we have not under- 
stood before. 

Do not forget that all is mind, — mind or 
spirit. We are living in a spirit world now. It 
is not material and spiritual. No ! All is Mind 
or Spirit. God, the Substance of everything, 
and this great universal Power speaks through 
you and me as we direct it. We alone are re- 
sponsible for its direction, and as it is directed 
its work is done. 

We may direct it against our home or our 
bodies, and it will tear them all to pieces, or we 
can direct it in such a way as to bring success, 
peace, harmony and plenty. As in electricity, 
for instance, w 7 e have just put in harness and are 
learning how to use it, So it is with this great 



APPLICATION IN BUSINESS 89 

truth, we have barely begun to know its use, or 
how it may be directed, as a mighty power in 
all our affairs. 

Never give up what you have once begun, no 
matter what, and you will see its manifestation. 
Be definite, — ask for just what you want. This 
law cannot serve you until the word is spoken. 
Cannot serve you until you speak it. Cannot 
serve you without your being definite in what 
you want, and definite in your asking. 

In addressing a class, I have often said, "Go 
into a restaurant and take a seat at the table. 
You may sit there all day and the waiter will 
not, — cannot serve you until you tell what you 
w T ant." So it is with this law. You think one 
way and then you want something else, and all 
you get is your pleasure or your trouble. 

In the business affairs if you speak the word, 
"Let the way be open," and you are definite and 
sincere as to what way you want opened, you 
will find it open. If you want to begin a busi- 
ness for yourself you can bring the money, but 
you must begin according to your faith and un- 
derstanding. One hundred dollars worth of 
faith will bring one hundred dollars in money, 
and fifty cents worth of faith will bring only 
fifty cents. So we must know exactly what we 
are doing. 



90 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

We build what comes into our world. We 
use this great power, as I have often said, con- 
sciously or unconsciously, tearing down or build- 
ing up. We do not know what we are doing. 
We must study these truths. Let us come into 
the consciousness of what we are and what we 
are doing. There is no time like to-day to begin 
the use of these great truths in our world. Each 
must apply them for himself. Each must be 
governed by faith, — faith in the law and faith 
in himself. u According to your faith be it unto 
you." 

We therefore acknowledge that the status of 
our finances is in our hands. Abundance is pro- 
vided and the amount of profit or income we are 
to enjoy is according to our willingness to meet 
the conditions. The check upon the bank may 
be drawn for all you want, but be sure it is 
properly drawn and according to the law. It 
can be properly drawn only through the silence. 
Remember the silence. It is everything. Every- 
thing. And as we come into conscious touch 
with this great Divine Power, the w T ay is open 
for everyone. 

Before closing this chapter I wish to give 
further explanation about giving out money. 
Give it out with judgment. A lady of whom I 
knew, having heard these truths advanced. 



APPLICATION IN BUSINESS QI 

thought she understood the principle. So she 
took the money received for her week's salary 
and bought candy, giving it out to the poor 
children. They wanted it, they enjoyed it, but 
she had spent the money foolishly and was very 
much embarrassed because she had no money 
with which to meet her week's expenses. I re- 
peat, therefore, use good judgment. 

I do not believe in contracting obligations. 
If you do not have the money, speak the word 
and get the money. Do not go into debt, be- 
cause it will be more difficult for you to speak 
the word for the money if you have created an 
obligation, than it will be to speak the word 
before. If you have to contend with the 
thought that is pressing you, of a certain amount 
of money to be paid at a certain time, you will 
put an anxious thought into the silence which 
you would not ordinarily carry. You would 
therefore have more difficulty in meeting the 
conditions. So that is what I mean when I say, 
u Use good judgment." 

The thought with which I end this chapter is 
that of abundance; — abundance of everything 
that you can possibly want. The matter is in 
your hands, reader. Should your financial con- 
dition or your environment prove unsatisfactory 
at the present time, set to work at once to 



92 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

change them both. The power lies within each 
one. No one is limited. "I am come that ye 
might have life and that ye might have it with- 
out limit." Speak the w T ord and Divine Power 
opens the door. Hold the thought of abund- 
ance, — and then ask for wisdom to use that 
which God has provided for us. 



CHAPTER VII. 
CONTROLLING ENVIRONMENT, 



WE have been taught in the past that we 
must accept everything that comes our 
way, as that is the common lot of man. 
We have had no way of mastering the little 
annoying things of life and so must bear them 
as a part of our moral and spiritual discipline. 
But in this teaching, when we come to under- 
stand ourselves and the power we have, we learn 
that we are master of the condition as well as 
of the environment. 

We learn for the first time, that we do not 
have to run away from either place or condi- 
tion, but we can remain where we are and 
change the condition. You will observe that 
this teaching does not encourage divorce. It is 
possible for one person living in a home to 
bring into it abiding sweetness and light. It 
may mean much work, but if you are willing 
to meet the conditions, a sweet and harmonious 
home may be yours. 

93 



94 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

Or, in a business way. If business relations 
are not just what we would like them to be, we 
have the power within ourselves to change those 
conditions. The same is true in your social life. 
If it is not just what you want; — you are not 
happy in it, change it. Do not run away from 
it. There are powers within each one of us 
competent to change a neighborhood. 

It is a pleasure to realize that we are not 
obliged to endure unpleasant conditions in life. 
That is a broad statement but it is true. In our 
former studies we have found that All is Good; 
— that there is no evil; therefore all good is our 
birthright. As we live the truth, nothing but 
good can come into our world. It is impossible, 
—if we live the truth that anything but good 
can come to us. 

When man can do anything that should be 
done he is master of himself. Ah! there is the 
secret. Master of himself. Master of yourself. 

To be able to sit down in the silence, in your 
home, or in your office, or anywhere, where 
perfect quiet can be secured, and, shutting out 
all material objects and associations, you come 
in conscious touch with All Wisdom, All Power, 
directing it as you choose in your world of 
affairs, — this indeed is to be the Master. Not, 
however, until you have gained the mastery of 



CONTROLLING ENVIRONMENT 95 

self can you become master of external con- 
ditions. 

When our environment is not pleasing it is 
evident that we are not living up to our possi- 
bilities. We have not reached the height. If 
in building our environment we are doing it 
unconsciously we will suffer from many mis- 
takes. These mistakes are the conditions which 
are not to our satisfaction. Ignorance in these 
matters is no excuse. We must know what we 
are doing if we would build to a purpose. To 
live up to our best and highest we must be 
governed by the principles of Tightness, — which 
mean righteousness. This is the only ground 
on which true life can be demonstrated. 

There was a lady in Chicago who wished to 
sell a very valuable piece of property. After 
having it in the hands of various real estate 
agents but without success, she appealed to me 
to speak the word for its sale. I did so. A 
few days later she came and said, — U I see no 
change, — the property is not sold and I have 
received no inquiry regarding it." I replied, 
" Continue along the way you are doing and I 
will again speak the word." And so I did. On 
a following visit she said, "There is no change." 
My reply was, — "There is something wrong 
here, — something wrong." "Are you asking 



g6 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

more for that piece of property than you would 
be willing to give for it?" She smiled and said, 
"I guess I am," There was the secret. We 
could not sell the property because she was 
closing the door against us. She was not will- 
ing to accept Tightness. Later she became will- 
ling to accept rightness and the property was 
sold within a week. She had closed the door 
against our spoken word. 

In healing the body, I told you to speak to 
each organ and atom. In controlling condi- 
tions and environment, you are to speak into the 
universal, — -into the blue, — the Great Universal. 
Do not mark out any way for it to appear, or 
any path by which it may come into manifesta- 
tion. If you attempt to dictate the way you 
will be disappointed. Leave that to All Wis- 
dom. Your work and my work is to get per- 
fectly still, still in mind and still in body, com- 
pletely composed and at rest, — then, get in 
touch with the universal power and let it speak 
through us as we direct it to our requirements. 
That is all we have to do, — it is all we can do, 
— and results will follow compliance with these 
conditions. 

After you have spoken the word act upon it. 
This is important. Act upon it. In speaking 
the word for success, act success, believe that 



CONTROLLING ENVIRONMENT 97 

you are a success. Put success into every 
thought that you send out. 

Now, let me demonstrate this so that you will 
fully understand what is meant. While in 
Chicago I had occasion to visit Saginaw, Mich- 
igan. On the night before my departure I 
failed to secure transportation. As I went to 
take the train I said to the ticket agent, "I 
would like a lower berth and a ticket to Sagi- 
inaw." He replied, "I have no lower, but I 
can give you an upper berth. " "No," I said, 
"I do not like an upper berth, I do not want it. 
You may give me a ticket to Saginaw." I went 
to the waiting room, sat down by myself and 
spoke the word, — "Let the way open that I 
have a lower berth to Saginaw tonight on the 
Michigan Central train, — I want a lower berth, 
— a good berth." Now here is where the work 
came in. As soon as the gate opened I took my 
bag and walked to the train. I walked to the 
sleeper and they asked for my ticket. I said, 
"I haven't any," but I stepped forward and took 
a seat in the smoking car. You see that I was 
doing my part. Soon the train started. The 
conductor came through and asked for my 
ticket. I said, "I have no berth, but when you 
go through your train come back to me and you 
will have one for me. He went through his 



98 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

train and when he returned he had an excellent 
lower berth right in the center of the car, just 
what I wanted. Now, you say this is some- 
thing unusual. No, it is not. It is something 
that anyone: — everyone can do. Man is not 
obliged to put up with conditions. Not at all. 
Remember always, that you must do your part 
and trust your word. Act upon it. Not sit 
down in the silence and say, "Let the way 
open," and then, "I wonder if I have said it 
right or not. I wonder if the way is going to 
open or not, — I hardly believe it will do it." 
You cannot accomplish anything in that way. 
You will get no results. When you start on a 
business trip, speak the word for a successful 
trip always. Send your word, — -which can al- 
ways be done, — in advance to open the way for 
you. 

Your word is what creates your world. Now 
you and I can direct that power consciously, or 
we can use it as most of us are using it today, 
unconsciously, and have all the unpleasant con- 
ditions to meet and deal with. 

Now, I do not wish to thrust personal ex- 
periences forward, or to seem egotistical, but I 
know that in presenting a truth comparatively 
new, example is necessary to stimulate others to 
try the accomplishment of like results. 



CONTROLLING ENVIRONMENT 99 

Everyone in business knows that he must deal 
with people in different states of consciousness. 
The first necessity in dealing with varying con- 
ditions and environment, is self-mastery. In 
my own business : I am shipping carloads of 
stock all over the United States, dealing with 
people living in the Old Thought — which is, 
that they must u do you" before "you do them." 
They have been living in that thought, which 
has been the dominant thought sent out for 
years. But our thought teaches something very 
different from that. It is mastery of self in 
rightness, then we are masters of conditions. 

When a man is trying to take advantage, — I 
mean one who is making a mistake, — he thinks 
it is the thing to do. In dealing with him I 
sit down in the silence in the office, I get per- 
fectly still and I say, u Infinite Spirit, let the way 
open that this man (calling the man by name) 
may want to do just the right thing and adjust 
this matter as it should be," and when this is 
done we control that condition. That man can- 
not take from you what of right is yours. It 
will adjust any matter, or business affair, if we 
are in the right thought ourselves and master 
of ourselves. 

I was at one time snow-bound in Portland, 
Michigan. It is a small town having but one 



100 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

hotel, at which I arrived late in the evening. 
There came in the night a heavy fall of snow. 
After breakfast I saw my customer, — there be- 
ing but one in the place, — and on returning to 
the hotel inquired about a train, only to be told, 
— "There will be no train either in or out today. 
The last storm w T e had there was no train out 
of here in three days." I said, "I do not want 
to remain here all day." In spite of the dis- 
couraging outlook, I knew the necessity of being 
in Chicago the following morning. I went to 
my room and sat down in the silence. When 
perfectly still I said, — "Infinite Spirit, let the 
way open that I reach Chicago to-morrow morn- 
ing, as it is important. Here is the demand, I 
know there is supply in this world somewhere to 
meet it, let the way be opened." I came from 
that silence with the consciousness that I would 
be in Chicago the next morning and I waited 
patiently all day. About five o'clock in the 
afternoon a train came in consisting of one coach 
drawn by three engines, which ran down to 
Grand Ledge. I was ready to take that train. 
From Grand Ledge I secured a train to Grand 
Rapids. Again I spoke the word in order to 
get a lower berth to take me to Chicago, where 
I arrived on the following morning. Tell me 
that the spoken word did not bring that into 



CONTROLLING ENVIRONMENT 1 01 

manifestation? We are not creatures of cir- 
cumstance when we know ourselves and under- 
stand our power. 

By many I am asked to help in the solution 
of their problems. Lately I received a letter 
from a young man in Florida. I do not know 
how he heard of me, but he asked that I speak 
the word that would adjust a difference and 
make a man in Chicago pay him three hundred 
dollars. My reply was, "No, I do not know 
anything about this and I cannot speak the word 
for you." Naturally I have heard nothing 
more from him. 

In exercising this power we should never try 
to control another person or to make them do 
what we want done. We are to speak into the 
universal. We do not speak directly to them, 
as though to force them to do something which 
we want them to do. That is to make a great 
mistake. This All Wisdom makes no mistakes. 
When asking for adjustment say, — "Let the 
way open that an adjustment — that rightness 
come out of the situation, " — not that you may 
have your way. If someone owes you a sum 
of money, do not see that one unwilling to pay 
you, but speak the word for their success so that 
they can pay you, and you will see quite a dif- 
ference. You will see that they will pay you. 



102 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

You will also be the means to help them pay 
you. It is the quality of thought which we are 
sending out that does the work. It turns this 
great power against us, or it works for us, just 
as we direct it. If the churches of this country, 
if the churches of New York, realized this 
power, and therein their own power, they could 
end the war in one month : — could renovate the 
morals of the community and establish the true 
Church of God in every heart and home of the 
nation. 

Whenever you have a problem to solve that 
requires adjustment, speak into the universal. 
Say, — "Let the way open," — no matter what 
the problem be. But be sure you are definite in 
speaking the word. 

Do not expect another to do just what you 
think they should do, but give everyone their 
freedom. By giving freedom you gain your 
freedom. Husband, give freedom to your 
wife. The wife, give freedom to your husband. 
And let me say a little more than that. Let 
husbands have confidence in their wives. Give 
them the money. Do not require them to ask 
for every dollar they need. Oh, it is too bad — 
give them freedom. If they make a mistake, 
give them a certain amount every month or 
week and let them spend it as they want to. 



CONTROLLING ENVIRONMENT IO3 

That is freedom. There is many a woman suf- 
fering through this lack of freedom. This sense 
of limitation induces disease. Lack of freedom 
often affects the stomach. So many are troubled 
with this difficulty, and the cause is the hus- 
band's failure to give them freedom. Perfect 
freedom must reign in the home before we are 
in a position to comply with the law which gov- 
erns conditions and environment. The larger 
the control one has over self, the more perfect 
control one will have over things and conditions. 
Control yourself. Be master of yourself. 

We must be willing to see and accept the 
rightness in every situation, and in doing this 
we meet the conditions which will bring satis- 
factory results. I repeat that controlling con- 
ditions and environment will depend upon the 
quality of thought we send out. 

Now, for the combination which will control 
conditions and environment. Faith in your 
spoken word, — confidence in the law and cer- 
tainty that your spoken word will bring Tight- 
ness out of the situation. Living in that thought 
and ever willing to accept rightness in the 
situation, you will control the condition. Every 
unpleasant condition is the result of a mistake. 

Now, let me say, — we do not have to suffer 
for the mistakes of others. That would not be 



104 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

justice. It would not be right for one to make 
mistakes and others to suffer through them. If 
we do not understand mastery, if we do not 
understand the law, we do suffer through them. 
But when I understand who I am, then I can 
master and change that condition in my world. 
I do not have to suffer for some mistakes which 
you have made. The man who is living this 
truth, living a perfect life, will control- what you 
call conditions of any kind and is what may be 
called a safety protector. I do not know that a 
submarine could hit a boat on which there was 
a man living a perfect life. This is the protec- 
tion of all protection against mistakes. But a 
man must live the truth. 

Furthermore, the quality of thought which 
we send out carries the seed to produce its kind. 
We therefore know exactly both the sowing and 
the reaping. Wc ean tell just what is coming 
into manifestation next week, next month, next 
year. If we are living in the thought of limita- 
tion of any kind, we know that we are going to 
see limitation further on. To be a success later, 
we must live in the thought of success today. 
Live there continuously. "Abide there. " As 
Christ says, "Abide in Me," abide in this con- 
sciousness that I am a success, then you will be 
one. Depend upon your spoken word to secure 



CONTROLLING ENVIRONMENT IO5 

your desires. Trust in that word. There is the 
secret, — trust it. 

Arriving late one evening at Detroit during 
the races, and going to the hotel where I usually 
stayed, I registered. The clerk, who knew me 
well, said: "I am very sorry, Mr. Northrup, I 
haven't a room in the house and at least twenty 
men are registered before you all waiting for 
rooms. I do not see any chance for you to get 
a room tonight." I stood around until I could 
find a seat : — sat down and went into the silence. 
I spoke the word for a good room with a bath. 
I said, "Let the way open that I get a room 
with a bath." After I had spoken the word I 
expected the room. I waited for a time and 
then went up to the clerk and said, "Have you 
a room for me yet?" And he replied, "No, 
nothing." Again I sat down and waited, — 
perhaps a half hour. I then went to the clerk 
and asked, "Have you a room for me yet?" 
He said, "Is your name Northrup?" I said, 
"It is." He called a boy and sent me to a beau- 
tiful room on the first floor. Just what I 
wanted. Now, is that the result of the spoken 
word or is it an accident? I claim it is the 
result of the spoken word. 

No man is obliged to put up with unsatisfac- 
tory conditions. In asking the way to open in 



106 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

order to change conditions or environment, be 
definite and state just what you want. In speak- 
ing the word for a room, you see that I spoke 
for exactly what I wanted and that is what I 
secured. But do not mark out any way that it 
shall come. Now, I did not know but that I 
might have to go to some other hotel. I did 
not think about that. The point with me was 
to get a room that night, and it was furnished 
me in the same hotel. Leave that to All 
Wisdom. 

In as much as a man builds his world, he can 
change his building if it is not satisfactory. He 
is not obliged to put up with conditions. We 
have built them, — we can change them. Our 
present living is in our own structure. We have 
built the condition. Each moment we are 
building our environment. If the condition is 
not just what w T e want, — why change it, just as 
though we moved into a new house. If your 
house was not comfortable and adapted to 
your requirements you would change it; well, 
that is what these pages are striving to 
impart and illustrate : — How T to change a con- 
dition and bring sweetness and light out of 
inharmony. 

A great mistake made by many is to allow 
others to guide them in their building. Learn 



CONTROLLING ENVIRONMENT IO7 

to stand upon your own feet. Not do some- 
thing because others want you to do it, — no, 
that other may be making a mistake. Go into 
the silence, get in touch with the All Wisdom 
and ask that the way open for just what you 
want to bring into manifestation. 

Do not mark out the way. To live the truth 
is to control conditions and environment. Our 
building must be done from God-qualities. 
Building from that which is not truth, condi- 
tions and environment will control us and flood 
us with all kinds of unpleasant experiences. 
We must abide in the truth. Are we making 
mistakes? Are we experiencing untoward con- 
ditions? We are not obliged to live under 
them. Change them. Any and every person 
can move out of any distressing condition at 
will. 

The key to happiness, success and all good 
lies in man's thought and words. I repeat, — 
the key to all happiness, to all success, to all 
good is in your thoughts and words. It will 
lock the door against you or open it wide to the 
Great Universal Supply, according as you your- 
self think. You may lock the door with a 
thought, bring you all the inharmonies of which 
life is capable, or with a different thought the 
door swings wide to abundance, to happiness, 



108 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

to peace and illimitable good and joy. All 
depends upon the quality of the thoughts you 
think and the words you speak. 

Anger, hatred, fear, worry, doubt, resent- 
ment, each is a key to lock the door against you 
and rob you of your birthright. Peace, poise, 
and love to the whole world will bring to you 
sweetness, develop your man and womanhood, 
flood you with happiness, abundance and power. 
Joy of life and the expression of all good 
will glow upon every feature, and happiness 
will be like a blessed contagion wherever you 
walk. 

Now, what are you going to do with this 
truth? Mastery of conditions and environment 
will come through the working of this higher 
law. You are not a thing of chance, neither are 
your experiences chance waves upon a tideless 
air. You and what you do, are products of 
law. Constructive or destructive as it may be, 
each thought goes straight towards a result 
which bears its own likeness. Each one knows 
well whether he is constructing today or de- 
stroying. Whatever the sowing, sure will the 
reaping be. 

Therefore the all important thing in life is 
to learn how to apply this law in every act, and 
then gird purselves for its application, 



CONTROLLING ENVIRONMENT IO9 

Man is the master power that moulds and 

makes, and man is mind. 
And evermore he takes the tools of thought and 

shapes what he wills — 
Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills. 
He thinks in secret and it comes to pass, 
Environment is but his looking glass. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
SELF MASTERY. 



THE subject of this chapter is, THE 
MASTERY OF SELF. It is the lar- 
gest problem with which man has to deal. 
We think that we can master others, but when 
we come to master our thoughts, master our 
words and master our minds, there is an effort 
required that is beyond most of us. Great per- 
sistency is required to master oneself. 

All our previous study was leading up to a 
realization, or the possibility of self-mastery. 
Most of us believe that there are certain lines 
beyond which we cannot pass. There are cer- 
tain conditions which we are bound to accept 
because we cannot do otherwise. But here we 
are finding it possible for man to master every 
condition, — every environment that may come 
to his experience. So I repeat, our former 
chapters have been given to awaken in you that 
consciousness of mastery, which is yours by 
right of your creation. 

We accept the teaching of previous chapters 
that man was the all important result of Crea- 

uo 



SELF MASTERY III 

tive Power. He was the manifestation of 
thought from First Cause, or God, and that 
thought carried life, intelligence, love and 
power into His creation. 

This combination is the real man. Not what 
you see, — no. What you see is the instrument 
through which life, intelligence, love and power 
are manifested. The real man stands back of, 
and behind what you see or feel or touch. This 
real man, we learned, is mind or spirit. Born 
in the image and likeness of First Cause, or 
God, he is in the unseen. All realities are in 
the unseen. We do not see power, only its 
manifestation. We do not see intelligence or 
love, only their expression. We have never seen 
life, but we can all see its manifestation. Life 
pushes up everywhere, but we cannot see the 
power that pushes, — it lies in the unseen. 

We also learned that we are given power, 
that is, man received the ability to draw from 
this great universal supply as required, as well 
as the power to impart this in his building. So 
we found that at any time this power was needed 
by you and me it was granted. If we required 
more intelligence or more love, we could come 
in touch with this universal supply house and 
receive the power we needed. At all times 
within our reach, it is a bank on which we can 



112 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

draw to meet all conditions necessary to com- 
plete manifestation. 

A room may be properly wired, lights ar- 
ranged and connections adjusted with the 
power-house, but we must touch a little button 
before we see the light. That we must do. So 
in meeting this truth there is something for us 
to do. It is necessary for man to touch the 
button which opens the door, at all times and 
under all circumstances. The button is at his 
command at any time that he wants more in- 
telligence, more love, more power, more wis- 
dom, — just touch the button. At every moment 
in life he is connected with the power-house. 

Therefore, the first step in self-mastery is to 
know yourself. Know who you are and what 
you can do. Instead of believing as in the past 
that God is away off somewhere, we know not 
where, we find him now in every tree and flower 
and blade of grass, and in the face of man. 
God is omnipresence. Here, there, and in every 
living thing. 

Our first chapter was based on what you 
know. In this eighth and last chapter we are 
faced with the same proposition. We must 
know. To every man there comes a time when 
he wants to know who he is and what he can do. 
He must know his own powers. He asks, "Am 



SELF MASTERY 113 

I more than this that faces me?" He wants to 
know that he is more than his business, and that, 
if it is going down he can speak the word that 
can change failure into success. If there is in- 
harmony in the home he wants to know that 
he is master of that condition, — that he can 
speak the word which will bring harmony and 
sweetness and the adjustment of all untoward 
conditions. Therefore, I repeat, you must 
know. If you go to a large corporation and ask 
for a position the question will be asked, "What 
can you bring us? What do you know?" If 
you can bring something that is worth $10,000 
or $20,000, they will say, "We want you." 
And so today, — it is what you know. The 
value of every man and woman is just what they 
know. Therefore, knowledge and understanding 
are necessary for the mastery of all conditions. 
The master workman has a plan and he 
works close to that plan. So it must be with 
the master workman in this truth. He must 
have a plan. He must have a goal that he 
wishes to reach. The first and all important 
thing is this, — first decide what you wish to ac- 
complish; what you wish to see brought into 
manifestation the most of any one thing. That 
is the first thing for you to decide if you want 
to master conditions. Second, work close to the 



114 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

plan and depend upon All Wisdom to direct 
you. You have been shown how you may come 
in touch with this All Wisdom. It is for you 
at any time you choose. Work close to the 
line, and as you do, I can assure you of satis- 
factory results. You will grow into mastery 
every day. This equipment of conscious self- 
mastery is not something that can be handed 
over to you by your reading these pages, but it 
is something that you must bring out of your- 
self. It is not something to overcome, it is 
something to become. Bring out of yourself 
what you wish to see in manifestation. Not 
from the outside, — you are not going to gain it 
there. You will gain it only by mastering your- 
self and bringing out of yourself the power that 
is within you, — the possibilities that lie dormant 
there for you and me to unfold. 

When you are master of yourself you are 
master of everything in your world. As it is 
possible for everyone to master themselves, if 
they will, may I ask, "Is man master or slave ?" 
As we are each building our world today, we are 
masters of that world. But we are building for 
next week,^ next year. We cannot escape the 
responsibility. We are master. But forsaking 
that mastery, you can turn all over to condi- 
tions at will. You can turn that mastery over to 



SELF MASTERY 115 

someone else if you wish, but you are the master 
at the same time you are turning it over to them. 
You are turning it over to conditions and are 
letting conditions master or control you. This 
responsibility you cannot escape. 

In every condition you and I are masters. If 
we allow the condition to master us, is that 
bondage? If a man places himself in bondage, 
is that slavery or is it foolishness? 

If in these pages the truth has been made 
clear to you, so that it appeals to your reason, 
you can begin now, today, to break the chain 
which binds you, whatever that chain may be. 
No chain can bind the man or woman who will 
accept this truth; will put it into life and live it 
every day. Accepting is not enough. You must 
live the truth. Only thus will it set you free. 

If you speak the word for harmony in the 
home, just begin and act harmony. If you speak 
for success in affairs, you must act success. 
Straighten yourself up, be successful, act success, 
live success. Man is the master, yet he places 
himself in bondage in so many ways. 

When you say you cannot afford, you place 
yourself in bondage. You are doing all that 
you can to place yourself where you cannot 
afford. Your spoken word is what moves the 
world. You say you cannot afford. You be- 



Il6 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

lieve it at the time — you are making conditions, 
you are bringing about a condition where you 
cannot afford. You are placing yourself in 
bondage to that very end. If you say, "I am 
sick," if you say, "I am out of condition," you 
are saying the very thing that will induce the 
condition. Whenever a negative thought or 
condition is allowed to control, you are in bond- 
age, and it is you who are placing the slavery 
upon yourself. 

Mastery is the place where we find satisfac- 
tion. No one likes to be in bondage. No one 
likes to be limited on any hand. If I would say 
to you, from this page, "You cannot go on this 
street for thirty days," it would be the very 
thing you would want to do. The moment we 
feel any limitation, that is the thing we want, 
or want to do. But we must not forget that we 
are masters. Things have nothing to do with 
us. Fold your arms and say, "I am master of 
you," — any condition, no matter what it is. Get 
into the consciousness of supremacy, — know 
that you are master, and as you swing into that 
consciousness everything, — every obstacle dis- 
appears before you. Man's birthright is mas- 
tery,' and he must live up to that. We must 
swing into the consciousness that, u None of 
these things move me." 



SELF MASTERY I 1 7 

It is wonderful what thought will do. No 
matter what is facing you, stand boldly and say, 
"None of these things move me." Say it and 
repeat it and then say it again, until you feel it 
and that thing will move out of the way. Re- 
member this and apply it to anything that faces 
you : I am more than that thing. 

But someone will say, "What can I do, I was 
born in bondage?" Free yourself, free your- 
self, no matter where you were born, nor how. 
No matter what your parents have been, you are 
master of yourself, you are responsible for your 
actions, for your thoughts and your words. 
You cannot escape that. You cannot turn it 
back on your grandfather or your father or 
mother, or anyone else. You must meet the 
responsibility of living, never mind those of the 
past. 

Thought is the key that will set you free. 
Constructive thinking will break every chain 
that holds you in bondage today. Constructive 
thinking, — knowing whether you are going to 
be free or not. You can tell if you are thinking 
constructively or destructively. Each can see 
that for himself. That is what you have to do, 
— get acquainted with yourself. Know what 
you are doing. Make your distinction clear and 
sharp between constructive and destructive 



I I 8 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

thought. If you want right conditions, if you 
would live under pleasant conditions, send out 
constructive thoughts. 

In our first chapter we took as a basis, "What 
you know about the truth, that there must be 
a First Cause which stands back of and behind 
every effect." No matter what you believe, no 
matter what religion you may have been brought 
up in, everyone must admit that there is a power 
standing back of and behind everything we see 
in manifestation. 

In the second chapter we found there is but 
one life, one power, and but one intelligence in 
the world, and that was, First Cause, Infinite 
Spirit, or God. 

In the third chapter we found there was but 
one substance in the whole world, and that sub- 
stance was mind or spirit, manifest in different 
quantities of the one substance, — life, love, 
power and intelligence. 

In the fourth chapter I proved to you beyond 
question, I think, that all is good, and that there 
is no evil. What is called evil is man's mis- 
direction of God-power. I also explained the 
importance of the silence and concentration. 

In the fifth chapter I treated the direction of 
this God-power in the healing of the body. In 
healing yourself and others I insisted that you 



SELF MASTERY 119 

be definite. I told you to direct this power con- 
sciously through the silence. I explained to you 
how to do this. 

In the sixth chapter I explained how one 
could direct this all power in his affairs and 
bring success out of seeming failure. No one 
need to pass through what is called failure, 
because you can come in touch with this all 
power, which corrects everything in the seen and 
the unseen. I explained how you may direct it 
in your affairs. 

In the seventh chapter I told you, that you 
w r ere not compelled to put up with everything 
that came, in what we call circumstances or en- 
vironment, but that you could change conditions 
and they would become harmonious and satis- 
factory. 

Now, if these truths have been presented in 
a clear and logical manner, so that your reason 
v accepts them, you should be able to say, "I am 
master. " "I am master of my conditions, " I 
am master of my environment." "I am master 
of myself, and therefore I am master of my 
world." 

Now, in closing the message of these pages I 
would say to the patient reader, as you become 
master of the "I want," do not stop there. You 
know the first thing that interests us in this 



120 RELIGION AND BUSINESS 

truth is the fact that we want something. We 
want love. It is right that we should have love. 
Love is our birthright. We want success in 
our affairs, — success is our birthright, but do not 
stop there. Go on further, go into the truth, 
come into a consciousness of w T anting to secure 
the kingdom of rightness, because it is right for 
you to come into a conscious realization of your 
birthright and freedom. Not because you want 
something. No, but because rightness is the 
sole ground of success. And because you want 
freedom, — freedom in everything. Freedom 
from every unpleasant condition. 

I trust that you have been brought into the 
realization that you and this First Great Cause, 
this Universal Power, this Infinite Spirit or God 
are one and cannot be separated. If you come 
fully into this consciousness; and that "All the 
Father hath is yours"; also that for anything 
you want you can come in touch with this great 
universal supply and power house and your 
spoken word will open the door; if this little 
volume shall have accomplished this, you will go 
from its reading the master of your world, 
master of everything in your world, in your 
business and in your home : — 

MASTER IN EVERYTHING. 



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